


Our Stars

by ThiamHarpy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), thiam - Fandom
Genre: ...possibly., Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Coming Out, Gay Theo Raeken, I should probably mention that this is cliche AF, Implied abuse, Liam will have an aunt and cousin in this btw, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, S O F T !! B O Y S !!, Self-Esteem Issues, Soft Boys, because warnings are nice, but some things do happen, coming to terms, did I mention 'soft boys' ???, happy ending because i'm a big baby lol, i wanna say slow burn... but i'm bad at this, it's mostly fluffy, listen, mentions of abuse, nothing too graphic, some sad times, still rated mature though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-05-18 07:09:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14848085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThiamHarpy/pseuds/ThiamHarpy
Summary: Liam moves back to Beacon Hills and falls for a boy named Theo Raeken





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY so, this is a MESS™  
> but as Peter Hale once said, we're all works in progress so I'm gonna go for it before I chicken out  
> this is actually the first work I've ever decided published so.... AHH.

Five years may not seem like much to anyone else but to Liam, it was a long time. A _long_ time to go without seeing his old friend Mason. Sure, they chatted online or texted as much as they could, but it just wasn’t the same. Both had let life get in the way, they made new friends and got a little side tracked.

Even though life got in the way, Liam made a point in telling his old friend that he would be returning to Beacon Hills for his final two years of high school. Mason, being the person he is, couldn’t have been more excited. While Liam also basked in the joy of returning to his hometown, a dark cloud still lingered over his head. The mood stabilizers surprising had held out great.

“Its going to be different this time, sweetie.” His mother spoke, soft enough to be considered a whisper but firm enough to be the truth. “Just you wait and see.”

Liam nodded his head and turned his attention to the passenger’s side mirror, looking back to see the moving truck his stepfather was driving. Liam wondered what they would have been discussing had he rode with him instead. David had convinced Liam that the moving truck would have been too uncomfortable for him, with a cramped cab and a busted air conditioner.

Liam didn’t have a problem with riding with his mother. He adored Jenna. In fact, they were each other’s biggest fans. Even David knew he couldn’t compare (even though, nobody was competing). The three of them made each other whole. They were each other’s constants.

“Do you think Mason will be mad about me surprising him?” Liam asked.

“If Mason is still the same boy I remember, he’s going to be thrilled.” Jenna said.

“Keep in mind that this is the same kid who didn’t speak to me for _three whole days_ because I told him I had never seen Star Wars.”

Jenna laughed then, “Well yeah, but you two were still joined at the hip even then.”

Mason was under the impression that Liam would be arriving a week later. Liam had decided to surprise him when they showed up for dinner at his house later. His parents were keeping it from him as well. Liam had felt bad about it. He didn’t really plan for it to happen this way, he wanted to surprise Mason on his own but then their mothers had started talking again and before he knew it, they were all surprising at dinner tonight.

“I hope he’s happy to see me.” Liam mumbled.

“He will be.” Jenna grinned, “Even if he doesn’t speak to you for three days.”

Liam rolled his eyes but smiled fondly. He loved that he and his mother had an easy-going relationship and he was entirely grateful that both she and his ~~step~~ father accepted him for who he was. Ever since he had come to terms with his sexuality, he and his mother were closer. In fact, Liam was extremely scared to admit that he was attracted to both men and women, to which Jenna scolded him for ever even thinking that she would have been against him. David had accepted Liam as his own from the moment he and Jenna had started dating, so he was perfectly fine with Liam’s little self-discovery.

“That was our turn,” Liam said, pointing the way that David had gone, “What are you doing?”

“Liam, we have to stop by the high school, remember?”

They pulled up in front of the high school and made their way through the main entrance to find the office. Once they spoke to the secretary, they were directed to the principal’s office.

“I must say, Mr. Dunbar, your academic records are quite impressive.” Ms. Martin said, “Although, I do have some concern with your behavioral issues.”

Liam instantly felt like he was under this woman’s scrutiny. He dropped his eyes to avoid making eye contact with the woman. He figured that if this was how his first unofficial day was at the school, that he was definitely going to have a bad year.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about Liam. He’s not a problem at all.” Jenna said, looking between Ms. Martin and her son. “With the right treatment and counseling and _even_ Lacrosse he was able to turn over a new leaf.”

Ms. Martin looked between the mother and son. “I understand. And in case you weren’t already aware, we have an excellent lacrosse team here, if you’re interested?”

Liam looked up then, “Yeah, that sounds great.” And he really meant it. Lacrosse was something Liam loved. He almost became dependent on it at one point. He always felt his greatest sense of being in control while playing.

“Being that it’s the end of the say, practice should be over. I’m not entirely sure if anyone is still here. Coach Finstock tends to stay late to grade papers. I can take you to meet with him to see about trying out.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Liam nodded with appreciation.

Ms. Martin led Liam to Finstock’s office while also giving Liam a small tour of the school. When they found their way to the man’s office, Ms. Martin peeked her head in the door, announcing their presence.

“Bobby, this is a new student who’s interested in joining the team.” Martin said.

The man lifted his head and studied Liam for a brief moment before responding, “Alright. Let’s see what you got.”

Ms. Martin directed Jenna back towards her office to finish some paperwork while Liam stayed behind with the coach.

Coach Finstock made eye contact with Liam, “Now look, uh-”

“Oh, Liam Dunbar.” He supplied.

“Look, Liam. I’ll admit that this team could use all the help it can get.” Finstock said as he stood from his desk and gestured for Liam to follow him. “I’m not saying the whole team sucks, there’s a few decent players.”

Liam decided right then that he liked the coach and he thought he was quite funny. Finstock led them to the boy’s locker room where two students were busy cleaning.

“Cahill, Holloway.” Coach yelled, causing the two boys to stop their actions and look up. Liam wasn’t sure who was who as they both said, “Yes, coach?” at the same time.

“Liam here just transferred in. Since you two suck less than anyone else, I need you two to run through some try outs with him.”

Liam looked at the two boys who didn’t even react to the man’s words, other than nodding in agreement.

“Grab some sticks and head to the field.”

The other two boys could barely keep up with Liam on the field. While Coach Finstock was pleased with Liam’s performance, he couldn’t resist screaming infidelities at his own players. With every twist and turn, Liam came out on top. He was able make every shot and also block every shot Cahill and Holloway had thrown at him. He had left the two boys panting.

Coach called it by blowing the whistle, ending the session. He practically ran to Liam and the others, “I haven’t seen playing like that since.. since.. What the hell was that?”

Liam’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, worried that Finstock was going to turn him away without giving him an explanation.

“Consider yourself a Cyclone, Dunbar.” Coach said, patting him on the shoulder. “Be here after school on Monday for practice.” Finstock turned to find the two boys talking together in whispered words.

“Holloway!” Finstock yelled, gaining their attention. “Show your new teammate here where he can find his uniform.”

Liam noticed the boy with blondish hair nod before answering, “Sure thing, Coach.”

“See you Monday.” Finstock said, dismissing them all.

The other boy, ‘Cahill’ as Liam knew him left after Finstock had dismissed them.

Liam was given a practice uniform, but turned down one of the lacrosse sticks, only because he had his own equipment. He left his uniform in his new locker so that he wouldn’t forget it on Monday.

“I’m Nolan, by the way.” Liam shook the hand the boy had stretched out to him.

“Liam.” He replied, whacking his brain to see if he knew this kid before he moved, only to come up empty.

“So, where are you from?” Nolan asked.

“Here originally. I moved in fifth grade up to Tacoma.” Liam replied.

“Oh, you lived here before? Do I know anyone you do?” Nolan laughed.

Liam shrugged, “Well, I only really ever had my best friend, Mason.”

“Mason Hewitt?” Nolan asked, earning a nod from Liam. “I know him, or well I’m friends with Corey so I see him a lot.”

Before Liam could reply, his mother was calling for him from across the field. He knew they had probably been there a little too long considering his step dad and the other movers were busy unloading their belongings.

“Well, see you Monday I guess.” Liam said to Nolan who nodded.

“Yeah, see ya.”

Liam made his way towards his mother, who had a questioning smile on her face.

“Well, how did it go?” Jenna asked.

“I made the team.” He smiled.

“I knew you would, baby.” She smiled, giving him a tight hug. “Okay, we need to go meet your dad before heading over to the Hewitt’s.”

“I feel bad for not being there to help unload some of the stuff.” Liam said, looking ashamed.

“It’s fine, the movers had most of it unloaded by the time David got there.” She replied, unlocking the car doors. “But we do need to pick him up, so if you wanted to change really quick, you can.”

Liam nodded his head and got in the car after his mother. “David’s going to be so happy that you made the team.”

“I’m happy I made it.” He laughed, watching the scenery pass by. He was starting to remember this part of the town little by little. His elementary school wasn’t too far from the high school, so he did have some recollection. He was sad to learn that his old house had been torn down because of a fire a couple of years ago. The land was bought and reformed into a park for the neighborhood kids, so he figured it wasn’t such a huge loss.

Liam was unaware of what his new house would be like, only that it was larger than his old one and the one in Tacoma. Although, anything would be bigger than the one in Tacoma with small bedrooms and a cramped kitchen.

What Liam wasn’t expecting was the very large stone house being their new residence. Having a doctor as a father and lawyer for a mother paid off in some ways. Still, Liam’s family wasn’t rich by any means, moving to this house was the first grandiose thing his parents have purchased in a long time.

“Let’s make this quick. The Hewitt’s, save for Mason, are expecting us soon.” Jenna said as she came to a stop.

Liam got out and looked up to his new house, he instantly felt his shoulders relax just admiring the amount of space. He felt like he could breathe easy in knowing that he would have more of his own space here. He quickly made his way upstairs to find boxes lining the hallway. He quickly found some boxes that held his clothes and changed into something a little nicer than his track shorts and t-shirt.

“I’m ready when you guys are!” Liam shouted as he made his way back to the front door, to wait by the car.

He took his time looking around his neighborhood, noticing that a lot of the houses were a like in the aspect of being made of stone. He knew just by looking that this was the type of neighborhood where people competed in decorating for the holidays. He could hear the sound of multiple people laughing and the distinct sound of jumping into a pool somewhere across the street, but before he could be nosy, his parents were unlocking the car and ready to go.

The drive to the Hewitt’s residence wasn’t very long at all and Liam could feel his nerves buzzing. He was worried about Mason being upset with him for basically lying to him and then showing up on his doorstep a week early, but then everything changed when Mason answered the door and basically tackled him with an excited hug and laughter.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Mason asked, to which his mother scolded him for. He shrugged and gave a half heartfelt apology before turning his attention back onto Liam.

“I kind of wanted to surprise you.” Liam replied sheepishly.

“Well consider me surprised.” Mason laughed, “You tricked me. And you were all in on it.” The boy said, shooting accusing glares in the adult’s direction, causing them all to chuckle fondly. It was only now that Liam had noticed the person standing behind Mason’s parents.

It was a boy who had a small fond but confused smile on his face. He met Liam’s stare and Mason must have noticed because he introduced them while their parents were busy talking.

“Liam, this is Corey.” Mason started slowly, “He’s… my boyfriend.”

Liam could feel his eyes widen without his permission. He had not known about Mason having a boyfriend, sure he knew that his best friend had preferred dating boys, just not that he _was_ dating one.

“Oh.” Liam said, Mason and Corey shared a quick glance before Mason started speaking again, “Is that a bad thing?” He asked.

“No! No, I was just surprised. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, that’s all.” Liam tried to recover from this as smoothly as possible.

“So, what about you? Leave a girlfriend back in Tacoma?” Mason asked, trying to avoid the awkwardness.

“No, no girlfriend… Or boyfriend.” Liam grinned.

“What? Are you joking?” It was Mason’s eyes turn to widen this time.

Liam shook his head before replying, “Nope, what can I say? Except that I just like _people_ , you know? It took me awhile to accept it or come to terms, but I worked through it.”

“We really were bad at keeping in touch. If I had known, I would have helped you figure some things out.” Mason said, causing Corey to gasp playfully. Mason rolled his eyes fondly at his boyfriend.

“Not like that! You know what I mean.” Mason said, causing the two boys to laugh.

“What are you three over here talking about?” Jenna asked, looking between them.

“Nothing.” Liam laughed, shaking his head.

“Why don’t you boys go back inside and clean up? Dinner will be ready soon.” Mrs. Hewitt said.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Corey asked, looking at Mason.

“Oh, you’re free to stay Corey.” Mrs. Hewitt announced, Liam picked up on the change in her tone. He knew there was something more to it, but he also knew that it would be rude to assume or ask questions.

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother… you have guests.” He said, mainly looking towards Liam.

“It’s fine with us, it’d be really great knowing at least one other person at school on Monday.” Liam smiled. He could see Mason grinning fondly at the two of them and he also had a hunch that maybe Corey stayed for dinner a lot.

“The more the merrier, that’s what I always say.” Jenna smiled at Mrs. Hewitt before introducing herself to Corey. “I’m Jenna and this is David. Liam belongs to us.”

“Mom… that is such a weird first impression.” Liam said, shaking his head.

“Well that settles it, Corey. You’re staying.” Mr. Hewitt announced.

Mason led Corey and Liam upstairs to the bathroom to wash up. Liam wasn’t surprised to learn that he still remembered his way around the Hewitt’s house, it used to be a second home for him. Sure, there were a few differences and the walls were a different color but for the most part, everything was the same.

Dinner was going great. It was almost like no time had passed between the two families at all. Even Corey fit right into the conversation easily.

“So how did you two meet?” Jenna asked the young couple.

“Moooom.” Liam groaned, burring his face in his hands.

“What? Am I not allowed to be curious?” She asked.

“Not when he’s not _your_ kid.” Liam laughed.

“It’s fine.” Mason chuckled. “We met after Beacon and Ryland high schools merged. Uh, Corey went to Ryland before there was this huge debate over the funding of the schools.”

“Oh.” Jenna smiled, “Well at least you found each other.”

Liam let out another groan before shaking his head. “Moms.” He mumbled.

“Oh Jen, I forgot to ask, where did you all move to?” Mrs. Hewitt asked.

“David found us this really nice place over in Glenn Oak.” Jenna replied.

“Hey, you remember Brett?” Mason asked Liam suddenly. Liam tensed slightly at the name.

“Yeah, why?” He asked.

“ _He_ lives in Glenn Oak.” Mason replied.

Liam, Brett, and Mason were friends in elementary school. Until Brett started hating them for some unknown reason. At the end of fifth grade, before Liam had actually moved, he thought he would at least try to clear the air between them before he left. Brett didn’t want anything to do with it. Instead, he told Liam that he was glad he was moving and that nobody would miss him after he was gone.

“Of course, he does.” Liam mumbled.

“What do you say we go up to my room so that I can kick your ass on the PlayStation?” Mason said, a little too loudly that both his mom _and_ Liam’s scolded him. He flinched slightly at their tones, causing Liam and Corey to laugh at his expense.

The three boys decimated each other on multiplayer games for a while before Mason finally asked the question that had been eating away at him.

“So, when did you find out that you were into guys? I mean, you were the first person I told when I figured it out and I knew pretty early on and I never had any indication that you liked both even then.”

“I knew you would ask at some point,” Liam laughed, “It kinda started when I was dating this girl Kaitlin in eighth grade and there was this party where we were made to play spin the bottle”

“Please tell me you did _not_ come to your conclusion of your sexuality over a game of spin the bottle.” Mason interrupted.

“I’m getting there.” Liam grinned, “Anyway, we were playing spin the bottle and this guy named Lucas had spun and it landed on _me_ and at first I was kind of against it because he _was_ gay, which I know sounds horrible but anyway, he kissed me, and it honestly wasn’t really good.”

“But it had you thinking of kissing other guys?” Mason asked.

“Actually, it kind of did. It had me curious as to wonder if I did somewhat enjoy it or if I would have enjoyed it _more_ if he was a good kisser, because I’m telling you this guy was like the worst at kissing.” Mason and Corey had both busted out laughing.

“I mean, I’m talking I had more of his saliva in my mouth than my own.” Liam shook his head at the disgusting memory and then went on, “But then in 9th grade after Kaitlin and I broke up, because as I said, I was considerably confused. I had run into this guy I had met through her and we started talking and we were kind of going through the same thing so one thing led to another and we made out a few times.”

“So, then was that when you decided you liked guys?” Corey asked, tilting his head in thought.

“I knew I was attracted to Jake, but I had it in my mind that I was only attracted to girls and _only_ Jake.” Liam shrugged, “It took me a while to realize that being attracted to only one guy sounded even more internally homophobic than it should have.”

“Does your mom and dad know? Or are you closeted about all of it? Because it kind of seemed like you were whispering earlier.” Corey asked.

“Oh no, they know.” Liam laughed, “I guess you can say I was pushed out of the closet.”

“What?” Corey exclaimed, “How?”

“Remember Kaitlin? Well she found out about Jake and turns out that she liked him and was mad that her ex-boyfriend was making out with the person she really wanted to date so…”

“She told your mom!?” Mason exclaimed.

“That would have been easier, but no.” Liam shook his head. “She had somehow taken a picture of us and sent it to everyone at the school. Jake freaked out about it and quit talking to me, told everyone that I kissed him.”

“What an asshole.” Mason replied, Corey and Liam both nodded in agreement.

“So then what happened? How did your mom find out?” Corey pondered.

 “I was bullied for about a month after the fact and I wasn’t in a good place, I was acting out in school just so I could get in trouble to be sent home or have in school detention, so I could get away from everyone, or I would just skip completely. My mom found out about it when she got a call home about how many days I had ended up missing when she had dropped me off at school every day. So, she ended up confronting me about it and that’s when I just broke down and told her everything. I cried, she cried. Dad came home and found us both crying.” Liam chuckled.

“Wow. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that just because you are who you are, you know?” Mason said. “The good thing about our high school is that nobody really cares about whether you’re gay or not. Sure, there’s still some people in the community that aren’t on board with it but it’s typically older people.”

“I’m fine with it now, sure I still have my off days but that’s more of a personal thing, not really the whole sexuality thing.” Liam said, “It’s my life, why should it bother someone else, you know?”

“Exactly. I wish more people understood that.” Corey spoke firmly. Liam made eye contact with him for a moment before he furrowed his brows.

“Your parents?” He asked, earning a cautious nod from the boy.

“I’m sorry.” Liam frowned. “Parents should be there for their kids, no matter what.”

“They’re there… technically. But it’s like they just act like I don’t exist, or they act like I’m just going through some phase.” Corey explained.

“He has me, though.” Mason beamed.

“Oh, well now I really feel sorry for him.” Liam said, causing Mason to knock him over while Corey laughed.

“Oh, you think it’s funny?” Mason asked his boyfriend, “I see how it is, Liam. You’re here ONE day and you turn my boyfriend against me.”

Mason exaggerated his pout and sniffled. “You guys SUCK.”

“I would tell you to go home, but you _are_ home.” Liam was laughing while doubled over.

“Riiight. This is my house, _you go home_!” Mason mocked.

Liam shook his head, “God I missed you, man.”

“I missed you and I’m glad that things aren’t weird between us. No matter how much we changed.”

Liam laughed and said, “Well, yeah but we were always weird, so…”

“That is very true.” Mason chuckled.

There was a knock on the door, Mason yelled for them to come in and Jenna was the one who popped her head in.

“You boys sound like you’re having a lot of fun up here.” She said.

“Liam is being a bully.” Mason proclaimed. Corey and Liam joined together in laughter while he pouted once again.

“Yeah, I can believe it.” Jenna smiled, “Well Liam, it’s getting late and we have a lot of unpacking to do tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’m coming.” Liam said, standing up from the floor.

“You boys are welcome over anytime.” Jenna smiled, looking between Mason and Corey.

“Well, if I don’t get to see you before Monday, I’ll see you at school.” Liam said.

“We can pick you up. Glenn Oak is on the way, so it wouldn’t be a problem.” Mason suggested.

“Yeah, that would be cool.” Liam nodded. “That way, I won’t be wondering around aimlessly until I found someone I know.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Corey replied.

Jenna looked passed her son, “It was nice seeing you again Mason. Nice meeting you Corey. I’ll see you soon.”

“Nice meeting you.” Corey smiled.

“Bye.” Mason said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam goes to his first day of school at Beacon Hills High

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up! I'm really bad about going overboard with dialogue, so I apologize in advance.  
> all mistakes are my own, feel free to point them out for me though.

Liam spent the weekend fixing up his room. He had painted his room a cerulean color before he decided to move his bed in and unpack his things. The white walls were just not cutting it for him. When he was finished, he went outside to take some trash out and recycle the torn boxes from the packing.

Two houses down, and across the street he heard more shouting, mixed with music and the sound of people having a good time together, he wondered if that was where Brett lived. Mason told him he lived around here but Liam hadn’t seen him yet. A truck drove past him, headlights flashing across him as he reached the trash can. He noted that the truck must have parked at the house where the people were having a party. He waited for a few seconds, but the person never got out of the vehicle, so he turned and went back inside.

 _“So much for being neighborly.”_ He mumbled.

After he had everything set up just the way he wanted, it was late Sunday night and he realized he didn’t have any of his school things ready, so he focused on getting those things organized before he ended the night with texting Mason.

* * *

  **Mason**

_What time should I be ready by tomorrow if you’re still picking me up? – 10:47 PM_

**_About 7:30… if that’s okay with you. - 10:48 PM_ **

_Sounds good.. see you tomorrow! - 10:50 PM_

**_See ya, buddy. – 10:52 PM_ **

* * *

 

Liam went to bed with a strange sense of calm washing over him. He figured he would have been more nervous for his first day at a new school, but he really wasn’t. He was starting off with two friends and possibly a third if the Nolan kid did hang around Corey a lot. If he was alone, he knew that he wouldn’t be feeling this calm or excited about starting in a new place. He was home now, and that made him feel a lot better.

Waking up for school the next morning, he took a shower and picked out a nice outfit. When he was finished, he joined his mother for breakfast.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you for the first day?” She asked.

“I’ll be fine mom. I’ll have Mason drop me off in front with all the other mom’s and yell have a good day if you really need me to.” He grinned.

“It would help.” She teased.

“He should be here soon.” Liam said, getting up with his plate to wash it in the sink.

“Remember that I do have to go to lacrosse practice after school, so I don’t know exactly when I’ll be home.”

“Call me if you need a ride.” She said, hugging him. “Have a good day, baby.”

“You too.” He smiled, even though she hasn’t started her job at the firm yet.

As Liam made his way outside, he noticed a car backing down the driveway of the house that was throwing the party. It wasn’t the same vehicle from the night before, but it was elaborate with dark tinted windows and the driver was blasting music, even as early as it was. Liam thought about his neighborly comment last night. Once out of the driveway, the car sped down the street and around the corner.

Mason and Corey pulled up not even a moment later and Liam smiled before he got in.

“You ready to face the music?” Mason asked.

“Hell yeah.” Liam replied.

Liam picked up his schedule from the office before returning to Mason and Corey. He handed it over to them to see what all classes they had together.

“Well, all three of us have Bio together and you have AP History with me. You’re with Corey in English. We can walk together from History to lunch.” Mason studied.

“Sounds good. Except I’ll be alone for Math but it’s whatever.” Liam replied.

“Well, see you at lunch. You two have fun in English.” Mason said, making his way down the other end of the hall.

Corey turned to Liam, “Denniston isn’t that bad of a teacher, you’ll probably really like her.”

“I guess we’ll see.” Liam shrugged as they made their way into the classroom.

Liam made his way towards the teacher’s desk to let her know that he was new, he handed her his schedule so that she could look over it. She smiled up at him.

“Welcome, Liam. How about you take a seat right next to… Mr. Bryant, since you walked in with him.” Mrs. Denniston said.

Liam looked for where Corey had sat and made his way to the seat next to him. He could feel people staring at him, but he just kept his eyes glued to the seat he was aiming for. Before he could sit down, however, Mrs. Denniston informed the class of his arrival and asked him to introduce himself.

Liam grimaced before turning around towards the class, “Uh, I’m Liam Dunbar. I moved here or well, _back_ _here_ from Tacoma. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, if I’m honest.” He chuckled, earning a few quiet laughs from other students.

“You lived here before?” Mrs. Denniston asked.

“Oh, yeah. I moved _from_ _here_ when I was in the fifth grade, so I may remember a few people if I’m lucky.”

“Well, I hope everyone welcomes you back accordingly.” She smiled.

Liam returned the gesture and sat down. A few lingered their stare on him for a few minutes before Mrs. Denniston started her lesson. Luckily for Liam, school had not been in session long, so he knew he wouldn’t have a problem getting caught up.

In the middle of class, when it was rather quiet and people were working on their assignment, he had a feeling that someone was watching him, so he lifted his head to find a boy staring at him. The boy’s eyes widened when he got caught and he turned his head away quickly, shaking it. Liam furrowed his brows before he returned to his work.

When the bell rang, Corey happily showed Liam where his math class was. “Your history class is two doors down, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.” Corey pointed, “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Liam took a deep breath before entering the classroom. Math and Biology have always been the worst subjects for Liam. He was just glad that he had a class and lunch in between them so his brain wouldn’t be completely fried.

This teacher introduced herself as Ms. Fleming and instructed him to take an empty seat. Not wanting to get on her bad side, he did what he was told. He figured if this was one of his worst classes, he might as well try to get along with the teacher to keep the peace.

After the first fifteen minutes of class, he knew it would last long.

“You look lost.” The boy to his left said, turning Liam found the boy from English who had been staring at him.

The first thing that popped into Liam’s head was that this guy had a really nice voice. And nice eyes…. And face.

He shook his head, “Yeah I have no idea what I’m doing.” He admitted. The boy nodded his head and leaned closer towards Liam’s desk, Liam held his breath briefly.

“Okay, first you take this number and divide by two,” He said, pointing at the given number. “Once you do that, take the number it equals out to and square it.” He waited for Liam to type the problem into his calculator before continuing.

“Now, times it by pi. And of course, round it off and you have your answer.”

Liam did as he was told and came up with an answer, he held up his calculator asking if his answer was correct. The boy looked down at his sheet before answering.

“That’s what I got, and I checked it twice.” He smiled.

“Thanks...”

“Theo.” He supplied.

“Well thanks, Theo.” Liam smiled.

“No problem.” Theo smirked.

Now that Liam had an idea of what he was doing, he continued to work on his problems on his own. Glancing towards Theo’s paper every now and then to make sure he was at least getting some things correct. Pleased with actually getting his work done before class ended, he instantly felt like he was in a better mood.

Which was great because he was on his way to History, something he has always been interested in. He’s also getting to see Mason, which he was grateful for as well. Being around Mason would make him feel a little more at ease.

“Liam!” Mason says, excitedly. “Have any problems finding your classes?”

Liam shook his head, “Nah. Corey showed me where my math class was and this one is only two doors away, so I found it pretty easily.”

“Good, I’m glad he showed you to your classes.” Mason smiled.

“Yeah, he seems really nice. I can see why you two work so well.” Liam said.

“He’s great.” Mason smiled fondly.

“So, we meet again.” A new voice said.

Liam is surprised to find Nolan from his lacrosse tryout in this class, which he truly shouldn’t be considering he _does_ go to school here and was hoping they could be friends.

“Nolan.” He nodded.

“Yep.” Nolan grinned. “I’ll see you at practice, right?”

“Yeah, looking forward to it.” Liam replied.

“Wait, what!?” Mason exclaims. “You’re going to lacrosse practice?”

“Yeah, I’m on the team… I forgot to tell you?” Liam grimaced.

“When did this happen?” Mason asked, “It’s your first day.”

“I tried out Friday when we filled out the paperwork.”

Mason looked exasperated at his best friend. Like he was completely offended that Liam had forgotten this little detail. 

“You mean you had dinner at my house and forgot to tell me that you were on the lacrosse team?”

“I forgot. I was excited to see you.” Liam laughed.

“Whatever, man.” Mason shook his head. “I can’t believe I lost you to the jocks.”

“Uhm, your boyfriend is our goalie.” Nolan stated.

“Let me have this moment, Nolan.” Mason said with feigned anger.

“Dude, Corey’s on the team?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, you would have known that if you would have told us.” He replied.

“We need to work on our communication skills.” Liam said, shaking his head slightly.

When Lunch came around, Mason got on the topic of anyone catching Liam’s eye.

“So, no one has really stood out to you? You find no one attractive, really?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Liam mumbled. Did he find the guy from English and Math attractive? He did have a really nice voice. And his eyes were a nice shade of green. And his face was nice.

“You know, Nolan is bi.” Mason offered with a shrug of his shoulders “I can totally see that working.”

“No offense to him… but, Nolan isn’t my type.” Liam replied.

“Oh, so then what is your type?” Mason asked, sitting up straighter.

“I don’t know, Mason. He’s just not it… he’s nice enough and everything but he just doesn’t… do it for me.” Liam explained.

“No, I understand. I get it.” Mason replied.

“There was this one guy though, he helped me with my math,” Liam started, glancing around the cafeteria in search of Theo. He found him sitting at a table that was almost full of people.

“Do you know his name? Who is it? Do I know him?” Mason exclaimed.

“Actually, he’s sitting over there with his back against the window. Third table.”

Mason looked towards the table, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible but failing. He let out an audible gasp as he turned back to Liam.

“What?” Liam asked.

“That’s Theo Raeken.” Mason said with wide eyes.

“Yeah, that’s him.” He nodded.

“You can’t like him.” His friend said.

“Why not? Is he like, off limits or something?” Liam asked.

“I hate to do this man, but he’s best friends with Brett. As in evil Brett Talbot.” Mason replied, “Also he’s straight so it really wouldn’t work out for you anyway.”

Liam felt himself deflate little by little. The first guy at this school that he found attractive turns out to be straight _and_ his enemies best friend. Not everyone can be winners. Liam looked back to where Theo was sitting but found his seat to be empty.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Mason mumbled. Liam looked at his friend and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before he quickly figured out what he was talking about.

“Liam Dunbar.” A smug voice said, causing Liam to turn and look at the figure standing behind him. Brett Talbot.

Liam felt compelled to stand, even though Brett was a good foot taller than him, he wasn’t going to back down. Not after Tacoma. Liam noticed that Theo was standing behind Brett, staring down at his feet as if they were the most important feet in the world. Of course, he’d be following behind his best friend. Not everyone can be winners, and boy was Liam losing impeccably.

“I thought that was you that I saw this morning.” Brett said, looking Liam up and down. Liam supposed that he was looking for any sign of weakness, like a lion or wolf preying on the weak.

Liam cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, who are you?” he asked.

Brett rolled his eyes, “I see you still have that horrible sense of humor.”

“And I see that you’re still an asshole.” Liam threw back. Theo’s head shot up, wondering if had head Liam correctly. Mason failed at holding back his amusement, letting a chuckle escape his throat. Brett shot him a hateful glare before looking back at Liam.

“Don’t think that just because coach said you made it, that you’re a part of the team.” Brett said, “You see, I’m Captain now and I get to make the choices around here.”

“Except nobody has an official say over Coach.” Mason remarked. Liam beamed at his best friend before turning back to Brett with a smirk.

“It’s just a title.” Brett shrugged.

“And so is ‘Captain’.” Liam smirked. Brett squinted at them for a moment. Liam chanced a look towards Theo and found him looking a little conflicted. He furrowed his brows at the expression before turning back towards Brett’s voice.

“You’ll both always be at the bottom. See you on the field.” Brett said before walking towards the table Theo was previously at. Theo followed behind him, not sparing another glance in their direction until they were seated. Liam made eye contact with him briefly before turning around to Corey slamming his book bag down.

“Okay, what the hell did you two do to earn Brett AND Theo to be casting glares in our direction?” He asked.

“Liam made the team.” Mason softly smiled.

“Dude. That’s so great, you’ll love the team.” Corey smiled, clearly excited and seemingly not worried about the tension the two boys left behind.

“Not if they’re on it.” Liam subtlety nodded in Brett’s direction.

“Theo’s not, Brett is.” Mason said.

“Brett is, what?” Nolan asked, sitting down next to Corey tilting his head as if he was waiting for the answer.

“On the team, Nolan, this is Liam.” Corey started.

“Oh, I know. We already met. I was there when he tried out for the team.” Nolan explained.

“Yeah Corey, remember when Liam had dinner at my house? Well he forgot to mention that he tried out for the lacrosse team _and_ made it.” Mason said.

“Maybe he was excited to see you and forgot?” Corey asked.

 “Thank you!” Liam said, pointing at him.

“Oh no, did I just go against Mason?” Corey asked, feigning a scared emotion. This caused the other three boys to laugh.

“You know what? It’s all good. I’m honestly glad that you two get along so well.” Mason said, “It makes everything feel lighter.”

As the words registered in his mind, he understood just how nervous Mason must have been. Not only was Liam unaware that Mason had a boyfriend, he was unaware at how much he had been worried that his best friend and boyfriend would not have gotten along. It made Liam feel like a bad friend. He shook his head for a moment, trying to get rid of the lingering thoughts.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you… It really did slip my mind.” Liam says, leaning closer to Mason in an almost whisper, “It happens sometimes… the uh, the medication I take kind of makes things weird at times.”

Mason’s eyes widen quickly, “No, I was just messing with you man. It’s all good. Something like that is _not_ enough to make me mad.” Mason patted Liam on the back in the good-natured way that is Mason.

“Anyway, you really think Theo’s hot?” Mason asked, making sure Corey and Nolan were paying more attention to their own conversation than theirs.

“I wouldn’t exactly say hot, but yeah.” Liam replied.

“Well, I definitely would.” Mason laughed, Liam’s eyes darted towards Corey and back towards his friend, “Don’t worry. We’ve talked about it before. Although, we do consider Brett more attractive, he is a close second.”

Liam’s face must have shown an enormous amount of disgust because Mason started laughing once again, “He has a literal eight pack, okay? It’s hard not to notice.”

“Whatever, dude.” Liam smiled, shaking his head before focusing on his lunch tray. The cafeteria food wasn’t actually that bad, but he definitely made a mental note to start bringing money with him to get some extras.

“So how long have you been into Lacrosse?” Nolan asked him, “From the looks of it, you’ve been playing for a while.”

“Not that long actually, my step dad was always into it and then I decided to give it a try one day, to clear my mind or whatever.” He replied.

“Is he the modest type?” Nolan asked, looking at Mason, “You should have seen him out there. Natural talent.”

Liam never really thought of himself as a natural. Sure, he knew he was kind of good, but he’s never had anything to show for it. He hasn’t played on a team before, so it’s not like he had trophies or awards. His dad was the one who got him into it, and while he told Liam he was good, he never knew to truly believe him.

“It’s a good thing I’m watching practice today.” Mason said, “I’ll get to see.”

“You watch practice _every_ day.” Nolan laughed, flicking a carrot at the boy.

“How can I resist?” Mason smirked, “It’s all for Corey.”

“Yeah, and the copious number of shirtless guys.” Nolan mumbled, earning a carrot to his forehead.

Liam looked between them, glad to see how easy it was being with them. Maybe this year would be good.

“Liam?” Mason said, nudging Liam’s arm, “It’s time to go.”

Liam looked around and saw that the crowd of students were leaving, “Oh, my bad.”

*

Liam followed his friends to class. He has Biology this period and has been warned thoroughly on how Mrs. Finch is. He knew not to go in with high hopes because she was a woman who had her favorites, and even they weren’t completely safe from her wrath.

Even so, he still had to introduce himself as the new student and have her give him a once over before finding him an empty seat in the very back next to the teacher’s assistant. Once Liam found the seat, he learned that the teacher’s assistant happened to be Theo. He seemed nice earlier when he helped with Liam’s math. Now that he knows he’s friends with Brett, best friends to be exact, he put his guard up.

Neither boy said anything to each other for majority of the class, mainly because of Mrs. Finch giving a lecture and her beady eyes were enough to put anyone in their place before they even stepped out of it.

“Hey.” Theo whispered, Liam didn’t fully look at him, only tilted his head towards him, which must have been enough for Theo because he went on to speak, “I just wanted to say sorry for Brett… It’s your first day… he just gets a little competitive, I guess.” Liam felt surprised that he had said anything, he figured that since he hung out with Brett, that he must act like him. Sure, it’s rude to assume that everyone who hangs out with Brett is an asshole, but Liam isn’t one for not associating people with their surroundings.

Liam turned to fully look at him now, “I know Brett. I knew him a long time ago before I moved. It’s not just him being competitive.” He said, giving a half smile, “But thanks, anyway.”

“He’s an ass, I know.” Theo nodded and shrugged, “But he has his moments where he’s not.”

Liam considered his words before nodding and turning his attention back towards Mrs. Finch. Sure, Theo might not get in trouble with her considering he was her aid, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. He doesn’t need another teacher to be on his case. Especially his two worst subjects.

His fifth class was Economics with Coach Finstock. Liam learned pretty quickly that the coach was just as outspoken and crazy as he was on the field. He figured this class should be considerably interesting, especially being in it with a glaring Brett. He practically leaped at the opportunity to sit next to Nolan, at least he was a friendlier face.

His last class of the day is Art, put there because there wasn’t an interesting music theory class and because he wasn’t cut out for band. That’s the one thing he misses about Tacoma, the music class. There, he was able to come up with his own pieces to be graded on. Now, he has to feel lousy because of his art skills. Sure, he could sketch a little bit but, he’s no artist. Not like Nolan who was working on an elaborate and detailed sketch of two hands, with one hovering over the other. Liam was blown away by the talent this kid possessed.

Brett and Theo were also in this class. Liam figured Brett was probably working on something like a sports car or something. Theo was a different story, Liam didn’t know what to think of him or what he could have possibly been drawing. He tried ignoring looking towards them for too long. He honestly wasn’t feeling another scene with Brett again.

Liam busied himself with sketching a bridge. Having both Brett and Theo in this class ate at his brain. Luckily, he knew Nolan was an easy-going guy and he’s already on his way to being friends with him, so he has a fighting chance. And someone to talk to.

“You worried about practice?” Nolan asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

“Oh, uh not really.” He replied.

“Really? You sure look worried about something with that crease between your eyebrows.” Nolan laughed.

“Nah, I was just thinking about how I’d rather have taken music instead of art. I’m not good at this.” Liam said, Nolan leaned closer to inspect Liam’s work.

“It’s not bad, are you into architecture?” Nolan asked.

“Not really, it’s uh, this bridge close to where I used to live.” Liam shrugged, “Just somewhere I used to go all the time.”

“Well, it looks good.” Nolan replied, “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Liam nodded and turned back to his sketch, catching Brett staring at him with a weird look on his face. Something you could compare to a look of suspicion. Theo was busy working on his own sketch, but he knew they were both acting a little strange. Liam shook it off and went back to his work.

*

Liam’s first practice went as expected. Brett was being a little too hard him just because he could. Liam didn’t back down though, he gave it right back to him as much as he could. That is, until Coach Finstock had enough of them bumping into each other and causing a ruckus that he actually had to separate them.

After they were separated, they just started competing against each other. Every time Liam would make a shot, Brett would too. If he wasn’t hurdling the ball towards Liam’s body, anyway.

The next ball hits him hard in the shoulder, the pads failing to keep most of the impact off. This causes his anger to boil over and he makes his way over to Brett.

“What the hell is your problem?” Liam asks, anger lacing his words.

“What’s your problem?” Brett taunts.

“You. You’re my problem.” Liam answered. “You just can’t accept that I’m on the team.”

“Oh, it’s not that.” Brett smirks, “It’s just too damn fun getting you angry.”

Finstock blew his whistle before shouting, “Get back on the field. NOW.”

“See ya out there.” Brett winked. Liam watched him jog towards his side, he nodded his head before running to his side.

“Everything okay?” Nolan asked.

“It will be.” Liam replied.

“What are you going to do?” Corey asked.

“Take him down.”

“He’s like a foot taller than you.” Corey pointed out.

“I can take him.” Liam replied.

“Liam, think about this for a moment… okay? Just… cool off.” Nolan said.

Liam studied him before turning back towards Brett who was giving him a similar look he received in class earlier. It suddenly made sense. Brett was jealous. He had been talking to Nolan before, that has to be it. Maybe not entirely, but definitely now. Still, Liam wasn’t backing down from this.

As the coach blew his whistle, Liam took off. Brett did as well, charging towards the ball Liam was going for. They got to the ball almost simultaneously, Liam knocked Brett out of the way, swiping the ball up in his stick and running towards his goal, swiftly shooting it in.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Finstock yelled. “You could all learn from this.”

Liam was knocked to the ground quickly. He was now laying on his back groaning, he heard the unmistakable sound of Brett’s chuckle as his attacker skipped off. Liam jumped to his feet, throwing his helmet to the ground as he charged at Brett once again, knocking him to the ground before he could protect himself. If Brett wanted to play dirty, Liam could too.

Brett followed suit and tossed his helmet to the side, “Is this how it’s going to go?” he asked Liam. Liam stepped closer, feeling hands pull him back almost instantly, he looked to find Nolan and Corey being the source. A couple guys he didn’t know had done the same to Brett, holding him in place. Liam didn’t get a chance to say anything as Coach Finstock stormed over blowing his whistle continuously.

“That’s it!” He yelled, “Both of you in my office, now! I’ve had enough of you two.”

Brett and Liam looked at each other, casting each other maddening glares.

“Go! And try not to kill each other before I get there.”

Brett stormed off towards the locker rooms first. Liam followed behind him slowly, hearing the sound of Coach drilling the rest of the team in their absence. Once they were in the school, Liam sat in a chair in the office. Brett was as annoying as ever, giving glares every few seconds as if he could burn Liam alive with a look.

Liam sighed deeply before speaking, “Look asshole, I’m not interested in _him_.”

“What are you talking about?” Brett asked, looking almost like a deer in the headlights.

“Don’t play dumb. I’ve noticed how territorial you get, it happened in art and it happened on the field.”

Brett stared at him, clearly getting flustered. “I don’t know wha-”

“Whatever dude. Get over it, Nolan’s not my type anyway.” Liam shrugged, glancing around the small office, mainly trying to avoid Brett’s stare.

“So, I got jealous. Sue me.” Brett sneered.

“You could be a little less of an asshole now, ya know, if you wanted.” Liam said, “I’m not a threat. Are you going to be an asshole the whole year?”

“Probably.” Brett grinned.

“Look, let’s just agree that on the field, we’re teammates. Whatever happens _off_ the field, doesn’t carry over.”

“Whatever you say.” Brett replied.

“Now that’s what teammates should sound.” Finstock bellowed, “You two cause another scene like today and you’re both suspended from the team. You two could have seriously messed up the field. Do you know how much it costs to maintain it?”

Liam and Brett shared a look before rolling their eyes. Liam shook his head before replying, “Sorry Coach. Won’t happen again.”

“You’re damn right it won’t. If you two want to kill each other, do it after the season is over. Now get out of here.” Finstock replied.

 Liam took a quick shower and got changed, finding Corey, Mason, and surprisingly, Theo waiting outside of the locker room.

“Nice to see you didn’t kill each other.” Mason laughed, “From where I was sitting, I was sure you two would have.”

“What did coach say?” Corey asked.

Liam looked between the three of them, Theo was standing a foot behind his friends, no doubt waiting for Brett.

“He said we’d get suspended from the team next time. He was more worried about us damaging the field than each other.” Liam responded. “He also said to wait to kill each other until after the season was over.”

The three boys laughed, “Yeah that sounds like him.” Theo said, drawing Liam’s attention back to him. They stared at each other for a moment before the locker room doors opened.

“Ugh, I’m starving.” Brett said, walking up to Theo, “Let’s get out of here.”

Liam watched the two walked off down the hallway. He turned around to find Mason and Corey looking at him.

“What?” Liam asked.

“Nothing.” Mason said, shaking his head, “Theo invited us to a party on Friday.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Liam asked.

“We’ve never been to any of his or Brett’s parties.” Corey replied, Liam furrowed his brows at this.

“You don’t think they’re planning something, do you?” Mason asked.

Were they worried that Brett and Theo were planning retaliation?

“Is that something they do?” Liam asked.

Both boys shrugged. “I mean, probably not.” Mason replied.

“Why were you two fighting anyway?” Corey asked, leading the way to the parking lot.

“He was jealous.” Liam smirked.

“Because you made the team?” Mason asked.

“No…” Liam whispered. “It was because of Nolan.”

“Are you serious?” Mason asked, excitedly. “Dude, that works out so well considering Nolan likes him.”

“So, Brett thought you were like… stealing him away?” Corey asked.

“I guess, I mean.. Nolan and I have a couple classes together and he’s nice but I’m not into him.” Liam replied.

Corey stopped walking for a moment, furrowing his brows. “Please tell me you’re not interested in _Brett_.”

Liam laughed and shook his head, “I’m definitely not interested in Brett. Pretty sure we both hate each other.” He looked over to see Mason with his own eyebrows furrowed.

“You okay?” Liam asked, causing Mason to look up at them.

“Yeah,” Mason chuckled, “I was just thinking for a moment… do you need a ride home?”

“If you don’t mind.” Liam shrugged.

“Nah, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my first chapter- small and uploaded on a whim, earned 10 kudos and I just can't believe it... like??? I was so happy when I logged in today!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so.... here's a cringe worthy party scene
> 
> If you see any mistakes, point them out. I have this written up in a word doc but some mistakes still go unnoticed lol 
> 
> THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I HAVE UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE IT KEPT CUTTING OFF so if you had a notification (or a couple) I'm sorry.

“What is wrong with you?” Liam asked, leaning between the front seats to look at Mason, Liam found it strange that he had been exceptionally quiet on the drive to his house. Turning to look at Corey, he could tell he was confused as well.

“Nothing.” Mason shrugged.

“You’ve been acting weird since the school.” Liam pointed out, earning a nod from Corey.

“It’s just weird. Inviting us to a party right after you get in a fight with Brett. Excuse me for thinking that’s a little too suspicious.” Mason turned to the two, raising an eyebrow at Corey in unspoken question.

“I’ll admit that it’s a little weird.” The sheepish boy replied.

“It’s _very_ weird, okay? We’re not friends with them and-”

“And it’s just a party.” Liam interrupted, “A high school party.”

“It could be fun.” Corey said, shuffling in his seat and avoiding Mason’s stare.

“Yes! Thank you, Corey,” Liam exclaimed, “It _could_ be fun which is why you _should_ go.”

Mason looked between the two of them defeated, slowing the car to a stop in front of Liam’s house before speaking again.

“I don’t know.”

“We’ll just ignore everyone else.” Corey smiled, grabbing his hand “We’ve gotten good at that.”

Mason returned the smile and Liam could practically see little hearts floating around their heads as if they were in the sims. Liam shook his head and hopped out of the car.

“Just like you’re doing now. Good. I’ll just talk to you later.”

Liam made his way towards the house, waving over his shoulder when he heard his friends say their goodbyes. Inside, he found his mother chopping up vegetables in the kitchen.

“Need some help?” He asked. Jenna smiled at him over her shoulder but shook her head.

“No, I’m actually almost done. It just needs to cook.” She replied, throwing her own question back. “Homework?”

“Not much just some reading for English and some for Biology, actually… a lot for Biology.”

Jenna gave a small smile before nodding her head, “Go on upstairs, I’ll call you down when it’s ready.”

Liam retreated to his bedroom, no intention of actually wanting to do his homework even though he knew he should at least get started on the stuff for Biology. It was his first day, he didn’t want or need this much work just yet and to be honest, he didn’t care much for the Cell Theory of organisms. Would he be able to fully label a plant or an animal cell? Probably not. Everything got confusing when he got past the nucleus and into the endoplasmic reticulum. Why were there two? Liam had no idea. He just knew that all organisms were made up of cells and that the Mitochondria was the powerhouse… what else did he need?

Of course when he finally started to _reluctantly_ started reading the passage in his Biology, he gets distracted by his cell phone.

* * *

 

**Mason**

**_“You sure you’re not just biased about going to this party because of a crush on a guy you just met today?” –  6:45 PM_ **

_“What are you talking about?” 6:47 PM_

**_“Seriously? Would you even consider going if he wasn’t the one who invited us?” – 6:48 PM_ **

_“Maybe… Like I said, it’s a party.” – 6:48 PM_

**_“He’s not always been the nicest person, Liam.” -  6:50 PM_ **

_“What do you mean? What did he do?” – 6:51 PM_

**_“Nothing to me personally but there have been snide remarks and slight bullying from his group of friends.” –  6:55 PM_ **

**_“Honestly, Liam. I just don’t want you getting your hopes up, especially in liking him.” –  6:55 PM_ **

_“Yeah, I get it. You’ve told me already.” – 6:56 PM_

_“But you said his friend group, not him. He invited you to a party because he was being nice?” – 6:57 PM_

**_“Sometimes it’s the actions or lack of that teaches you about a person. Sure, he didn’t actually do any of the bullying but it’s not like he did anything to stop it.” – 7:01 PM_ **

**_“I just don’t want to see you get your hope up of liking this guy and he turns out to be an ass. Like Brett.” – 7:02 PM_ **

_“I understand. Really, I do. You’re a good friend Mason.” – 7:02 PM_

_“But… I still think we should go to the party. Not because of this random stranger. But because it’s a party. You got to live it up while you can, man!!!!” – 7:03 PM_

**_“I’m just looking out for you.” – 7:05 PM_ **

**_“I live it up a lot, thank you very much. Corey and I go clubbing sometimes. Which I am totally going to start dragging you to now.” – 7:05 PM_ **

_“Well excuse me for thinking you sat at home alone every weekend.” – 7:06 PM_

**_“Who says I’m alone? ;)[](http://unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html#1f609)" –  7:06 PM_ **

**_“I have a boyfriend and my parents love him” – 7:07 PM_ **

**_“FREE RANGE, BRO!” – 7:07 PM_ **

_“Yeah, yeah. Rub it in. I have to go down to dinner. At least think about the party??? Go to this party for me and I’ll go clubbing for you.” – 7:08 PM_

**_“I’ll think about it.” – 7:09 PM_ **

* * *

 

At that, Liam wandered back downstairs to his mother’s call. Liam loved stir fry night so he was all too happy that dinner was finally ready. He quickly set the small table in the kitchen for them before sitting down across from his mother, liking that it was much easier to set this table than the larger one in the dining room.

“So, how was your first day?” Jenna asked before passing Liam a dish of rice.

“It was school.” Liam replied.

“That is the most basic and over used answer I have ever heard.” She said, rolling her eyes at him.

“Okay, fine. It was good for the most part, I have a couple teachers who seem tough and practice didn’t go too well.”

“Well, what happened at practice?” She asked.

Liam sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her for too long, especially something that happened at school and if Brett continued being _himself_ , it would only get harder.

“I got in a fight.” He mumbled, hoping that she wouldn’t hear. She did, of course.

“Liam, what did we say?”

“No lashing out.”

“Exactly.” Jenna sighed.

“It’s not like that, though. It was a misunderstanding. Remember Brett?”

“Talbot?” She asked.

“Yeah, anyway he thought I was getting too close to this person he liked or something and he was jealous.” Liam replied.

“You used to be friends, Liam. What happened to you two?” Liam shrugged, he wasn’t quite sure what did happen. He just knew that Brett started acting weird and eventually stopped talking to him and Mason.

“Please promise me you will try to avoid situations like that again? We told Ms. Martin that the school didn’t need to worry about you and getting in trouble in your first week would be really bad, sweetie.”

“I know mom, I’m sorry.” Liam said.

Jenna straightened in her chair, face turning serious, “Your penance for tonight is to wash the dishes after dinner.”

Liam shook his head, “I always wash the dishes after dinner.”

“Do not talk back to your mother, young man.” She smiled. He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. They sat quiet for a few minutes, both of them enjoying their dinner. Liam debated on whether he should bring up the party or not. Weighing his options, knowing that he did just admit to getting into a fight at school on his _first_ day, he figured it wouldn’t be too bad of a question to ask considering he was honest about it.

“So, there’s a party this weekend that I was kind of invited to, can I go?”

“Kind of invited to?” Jenna reiterated, raising her brows.

“Through Mason, not directly.”

Jenna studied him for a moment, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.

“I don’t see why not, if the rest of the week goes by smoothly, anyway.”

“It will, I promise.” Liam smiled.

*

So, Liam was able to keep his promise, making sure to be obvious about _not_ being interested in Nolan so that Brett wouldn’t get the wrong idea while also not trying to be _offensive_ towards Nolan in the process, he did want to be friends with the boy, just not so close that Brett would get mad again. He had even gone the rest of the week without speaking to Theo, which he did feel bad about considering he was on his way to his house for a party, but the boy didn’t exactly give him an opportunity to talk. He certainly didn’t start any conversations either, other than asking Nolan if they would be at the party.

Liam tried to focus on not liking him, he knew it was useless. He told himself that maybe since he was friends with Brett, to start associating Theo with his personality. They were best friends and Mason and Corey made it seem like they were alike and made sure to let him know that they weren’t the nicest of people. Liam didn’t want to judge him, but it wouldn’t be too absurd to assume that they acted the same and that Theo was an ass just like Brett was. Although Brett didn’t talk to him for the rest of the week either. It had actually been a bit worrisome.

“You ready?” Mason asked as the car came to a stop.

“I’ve been to parties before.” Liam laughed, glancing around at all the people that were heading towards the house, where you could hear music blasting. It was a nice house, it was bigger than Liam’s and for a moment, he wondered what Theo’s parents did for a living but knew it would be rude to just randomly ask someone.

“Okay, well I haven’t. Not like this anyway.”

Liam shook his thoughts away and refocused onto his best friend, “Let’s just have a good time. Is Corey meeting us inside?”

“Nah he and Nolan are waiting somewhere out in this mess.” Mason replied, causing Liam to laugh. Mason really was in for a treat. Once they were out of the car, they were able to find the other boys pretty quickly.

“Front door is blocked, gotta go to the back.” Nolan informed them.

“Blocked by what?” Mason asked.

Corey laughed, “No idea. We were just told to go around back.”

“Alright,” Liam shrugged before holding his arms out towards the house and looking at the two boys, “Lead the way.”

Nolan took it upon himself to be the leader, heading towards the left side of the house and through a gate. Liam was surprised to find so many people outside and he didn’t want to think about how many was inside to have the front door blocked. What was that even about? He made it a secret mission to find out… once he got around the people decked out in their swimwear and actually into the house. It was still warm in Beacon Hills for swimming, but Liam wouldn’t want to be in the pool with as many people that was bobbing in it now. Too many bodies.

Once they were inside, Liam quickly learned that it had been packed as well and he was pretty sure the whole school had shown up. How did one person know this many people? It was crazy. Nolan and Corey met up with some of the lacrosse team, finally introducing Liam as a person instead of Brett’s new punching bag. They made him feel welcomed by offering him drinks, though he didn’t take it until Nolan had one as well.

Mason and Corey ended up dancing together in a sea of people who had been groping one another. Liam stayed with Nolan and the rest of the team until a blonde girl came up and asked Nolan to dance with her. He couldn’t help but feel she was familiar somehow and he couldn’t help but wonder if Brett would get jealous over this girl like he did with him. Liam hoped he didn’t tackle the girl to the ground, he was sure she might break from the impact.

Liam wasn’t the type to have an adventure through a stranger’s house and leave his friends behind, but he had to use the bathroom. He downed the drink he had been nursing before cutting his way through the crowd. He finally found a bathroom in the hallway upstairs and finally found out why the front door was blocked. A foosball table was set up in front of it…. Standing, actually. What a fire hazard. Liam shook his head and ventured into another room, finding Brett standing at a table with different bottles of booze scattered around.

“Shouldn’t the team captain be setting an example for his players by not drinking with them?” Liam asked, earning a throaty laugh from Brett.

“They started drinking before I even got here.” He replied, “And if you really want to go there, you’ve been drinking as well, no need to act all righteous.”

Liam rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat. “You’re right, sorry.”

Brett’s face showed that he was surprised by Liam’s words, but he didn’t say anything else about it. Instead, he turned his attention back towards the table. Liam watched as he poured and entire bottle of liquor into a bowl of punch before grabbing two cups and filling them up. He stretched out his arm, offering one to Liam.

“Welcome to the team,” Brett smirked.

Liam hesitated for a minute, narrowing his eyes at the boy stood in front of him before taking the cup with his hand.

“God. It’s not poisoned.”

Liam nodded his head, he did just watch Brett make it. He didn’t see him pour the punch though. Brett rolled his eyes, taking a drink out of his cup as if he was proving a point. Liam took a few more seconds before supping on his own.

“Uhm, who are you?” A voice asked, he looked up to find two girls looking at him.

“Uh, Liam.” He replied, unsure of who he was answering.

“Oh, so _you’re_ the new kid.” One of them spoke, “I’m Tara and this is Tracy.” Liam looked between the two and offered a smile. They were both intimidating looking and it made Liam nervous.

“Hi.” He said awkwardly, glancing back at Brett who just had a smug look on his face.

“Do you want to play a game with us, Liam?” Tara asked.

“Uh, I… I’m not sure.” Liam replied.

“Come on, it’s fun.” Tracy smiled.

“Well, what kind of game?” He asked, furrowing his brows at their not so innocent smiles. He looked at Brett again when they started leading him away. Brett only smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

Liam quickly realized his mistake. It was saying yes to this game of kiss or drink. Well, he didn’t technically say _yes_ , but he didn’t say no either. He didn’t want to kiss these strangers, so he drank instead. Even when he got sour faces from the two girls who approached him earlier. In his defense, those were the rules. When it was almost his turn to be kissed, he excused himself to the bathroom. The group of players had booed him, but he wasn’t worried about it. He just wanted to get away before they tried to kiss him.

He knew he had drank too much as he wandered his way through the house in search of Mason or Corey and started stumbling around. It wasn’t until he ran into someone that he realized just how bad his balance had suffered. He hit the floor hard, smacking his head against it before someone was pulling him up.

“Liam? Are you okay?”

“Uhm, yeah?” Liam asked unsure before opened his eyes to find Theo looking at him with a concerned look on his face.

“Shit, how much have you had to drink?” Theo asked.

“Dunno. Lost count.” He replied, blinking rapidly.

“How hard did you hit your head? Come on, follow me.”

Theo led him to a kitchen, which was surprisingly empty. He made Liam sit down on a stool while he moved around the room quickly, Liam shook his head as the boy’s movements were hard to track.

“Here, hold this to your head. Drink this.” Theo said, placing a class of water down in front of him and handing him an icepack wrapped in a cloth. Liam did as he was instructed, placing the ice against the throbbing ache on the back of his head. It was cold at first, but he couldn’t deny how soothing it really felt.

“What happened tonight?” Theo asked. Liam closed his eyes as if he was trying to remember everything.

“Peer pressure.” Liam supplied, earning a laugh from Theo in response. He shook his head before continuing.

“Then there were these two girls who wanted me to play this kiss or drink game… their names were uh, Tracy and…”

“Tara.” Theo nodded.

“Yeah! That’s it!” Liam shouted, instant regretting it. “You know them?”

“Tara is my sister.” Theo chuckled.

“Oh.”

“It’s technically her party.” He said.

Liam took his time to drink his glass of water before he spoke again. He was trying to process the events that led up to this… _unfortunate_ moment.

“I didn’t kiss them.” Liam said.

“Obviously.” Theo smirked.

“Not very sanitary… everyone kissing each other like that.” Liam shook his head, leaning too far on the stool, only to be caught by Theo before completely falling.

“Okay, easy.” Theo said, leaning Liam against the counter. “Just stay still.”

Liam could feel goosebumps form across his skin, knowing his cheeks must be an intense shade of red at the moment but he didn’t trust himself to get up and leave. It’s not like he was able to run off or hide without getting lost or knocked to the floor again.

“My head hurts.” Liam said, pouting.

“I know, just wait until morning.” Theo laughed, stepping away.

“No, where are you going?” Liam panicked.

“I’ll be right back.” Theo replied, going through a door Liam hadn’t noticed before.

Theo returned not a moment later, “Here, take these. It should help.” Liam accepted the pills Theo handed him without second thought.

“Thank you for being so nice to me.” Liam said, after setting his cup back down. “Even though you didn’t talk to me all week.”

Theo laughed, “You didn’t talk to me, either. Works two ways, you know.”

“Well, yeah but I didn’t want Brett mad at me again. I can’t get in another fight with him.” Liam knew he was talking too much at this point, but he couldn’t make himself stop.

“What does that have to do with me?” Theo asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“ _Because_ I didn’t want to make him jealous again, but like I told him I’m not attracted to _Nolan_. Not like I am to-”

“Liam! Thank god I finally found you!” Mason said, making his way over to him, stopping when he saw the icepack Liam was holding. “Oh no, what happened??”

“I don’t know. Please don’t yell.” Liam pouted.

“He had a little too much to drink and then he hit his head.” Theo answered, smiling at Liam’s child-like behavior. “I gave him some pain relievers and the ice should help with swelling.”

“His parents are going to kill me.” Mason exasperated. “Do you know how easy it is for a doctor to cover up a murder?”

“Noooo. They love you.” Liam replied, smiling and patting Mason on the shoulder. “Did you notice that the room was moving?” Liam’s face fell serious, glancing around while Mason literally face palmed.

“Can you help me get him to my car?” Mason asked Theo.

“Are you sure you’re able to drive?” Theo asked.

“I haven’t had anything to drink.” Mason replied.

“Okay, let’s go. Come on, Liam.” Theo said. Liam stood from the stool, almost tripping before the two boys caught him.

“I am _so_ dead.” Mason mumbled.

“Nooo, you got to stay alive.” Liam sung. “You know like that song says, ‘ah, ah, ah’.”

“Liam, _please_ stop.” Mason urged.

Once they made it outside, Liam slackened his walk. He stopped to look up at the sky.

“Liam come on.” Mason said.

“Look at the stars… they’re stars.” Liam replied, letting his eyes wonder back towards Mason and Theo, the latter looking up at the sky while Mason was looking considerably frustrated.

“They’re nice stars.” Mason said. “Come on buddy.”

Theo looked back towards him, they made eye contact briefly. Liam knew his eyes were nice but something about the way the moon was contrasted on the boy’s face, made them glisten. Liam wondered if maybe Theo liked the stars, too. He wanted to ask him, but he couldn’t form the words on his tongue and Mason had pulled on his arm, so he had to turn away.

“If you happen to see Corey or Nolan, can you please tell them I had to get him home?” Mason asked once Liam was in the car and buckled in.

“Sure, I’ll find them.” Theo said, “Drive safe.”

“Thanks for the help.” Mason replied through the window after buckling himself in.

Theo waved them off. Liam turned to Mason and waited for him to acknowledge him.

“Okay, what?” Mason asked.

“You’re mad at me.” Liam pouted. Mason sighed before glancing at him briefly.

“No. I’m mad because you’re drunk and that I have to feel the wrath of your mom, but not so much mad at you.” He replied.

“Oh my god, Mason it was amazing.” Liam smiled.

“Getting drunk off your ass?”

“No… Theo being nice to me.” He replied. “He took care of me.”

“Look man, I told you before. He’s… not into guys.” Mason said, slowly.

“I almost told him I liked him.” Liam mumbled.

“What?” Mason asked, wide eyes.

“I almost told him I was attracted to him! Oh my god, Mason. I can’t talk to him after this.” Liam panicked.

“Calm down, okay? It didn’t seem that bad.” Mason replied, “And you said _almost_ , meaning you didn’t directly come out and say it.”

Liam nodded, “You’re right… but.”

“Oh no, what do you mean ‘but’?”

“I may have outed Brett to him.” Liam replied, “Do you think he knows, or would he say anything?”

Mason shook his head, “I don’t know if he knows, but I don’t think he would say anything. And besides, they’re best friends.”

“Oh my god what if I ruin their friendship?” Liam cried.

“No, Liam… It’s okay.” Mason replied. “You’re just overthinking because of the alcohol.”

“Oh, okay.” Liam nodded.

Mason was able to get Liam home and out of the car. Luckily, his mom was still asleep, and his dad wasn’t home yet. Liam collapsed onto his bed as soon as he got to his room.

“You think you’ll be okay?” Mason asked, “Try to stay on your side or stomach.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ll just lay here in agony.” Liam replied.

Mason shook his head, “I’ll text you later. Try to get some sleep, your hangover will probably be killer.”

“Thanks for bringing me home, Mason. You’re a good friend and I really mean it.” Liam said.

“I know you do. Goodnight, Liam.” Mason replied.

“Night.” Liam mumbled.

It wasn’t long after Mason had left that he rolled off his bed and tried his best to take his clothes off. As he went to remove his pants, he felt his phone in his pocket. He quickly got it out and pulled up the facebook app. He searched for Theo’s profile but couldn’t see anything because he had a private account. His finger hovered over the ‘add as friend’ button before he decided against it. Instead, he decided to send him a message,

* * *

 

** Theo Raeken **

“ _Hey Theo, sorry about the way I was acting tonight. I may have mentioned something personal about Brett and I am in no way possible the type of person that outs people. I had a horrific experience before and I was basically pushed out. I would never do that to someone else so please, just forget I said anything. I was inebriated and not thinking clearly. I truly am sorry.”_

* * *

 

He pushed send without giving it much thought or even caring if he spelled everything correctly and then finished undressing, putting on some sweat pants before settling back in bed. Telling himself that he’ll figure the rest out in the morning.

*

When he woke up, he could have sworn that he was living on the sun. The room was so bright, he couldn’t open his eyes and he was burning up. He kicked the blankets from his body in a quick motion, only to cause his stomach to churn. He jumped out of bed and ran to his bathroom, barely making it in time.

“Oh, that’s disgusting.” He mumbled before flushing the toilet. He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of places. He tried patting it down but stopped as he felt a bump on the back of his head, it was sore to the touch. He decided on taking a shower since he felt so disgusting.

The shower did help him feel a little bit better, until he checked his phone to see he had a friend request from Theo Raeken. His heart dropped as he remembered the message he sent last night.

“I am so stupid.” He said.

“I would agree after the state you came home in last night.” Liam jumped, turning to find his mother standing in the doorway. “How was the party?”

“Uh, I uh…”

“That’s what I thought.” Jenna said, narrowing her eyes at him, giving him _that_ _look_. The motherly look that nobody ever wanted to see. “ _Really_ Liam?”

“Dishes duty?” He asked, hopeful.

“It’s going to be a little more than that, I’m afraid.” She replied.

That’s how he ended up losing his electronic privileges and mowing the grass. Though, for now he was glad he didn’t have his phone privileges. He could avoid the friend request for a bit. When he was almost finished fighting and sweating his way through a hangover to clean up the yard, it was late afternoon and he felt exhausted. He slumped against the door, silently cursing the cruel punishment his mother had dished out to him. The door behind him opened, he didn’t even fight against his body moving with the door.

“Come on inside, Liam.” Jenna said, and he was happy to oblige. “Go get washed up, you’re helping with dinner tonight.”

He nodded his head and climbed back up the stairs. He took another quick shower before putting on clean clothes to lounge around in. Working and sweating through a hangover actually helped relieve him somehow. He still felt a little bad but it was mainly just a headache.

“Do you want to tell me if anything happened at the party?” Jenna asked as she made him cut up some vegetables.

“Nothing _happened_ , I just… I don’t know. It was a party and I just wanted to have a good time.” He admitted. “But then there were these girls who made me play this kiss or drink game, but I didn’t kiss them!”

“Obviously.” Jenna replied, Liam tilted at her, remembering that Theo had said the same thing the night before.

“I didn’t mean it in _that_ way, Liam. I just meant that it seems like you did more drinking than kissing.” She corrected.

“I didn’t think you meant it like that.” Liam replied, now curious as to how Theo meant it.

“It’s unsanitary, don’t you think?” Jenna asked, causing Liam to nod in agreement. “All of those people kissing each other. I’m sure your dad wouldn’t like a case of mono going around and you being on the list of the sickly.”

Liam sat quiet for a moment. Wondering if Theo meant to throw a dig at Liam’s sexuality? Had Brett told him? Did Theo know about Brett? Maybe Theo meant it in the same way his mother did. He wasn’t sure and the thoughts didn’t help him feel any better about the whole situation.

“Okay, what is that look about? What’s wrong?” Jenna asked.

“My head hurts.” Liam replied.

“I’m sure it does, maybe you’ll learn a lesson or two from this.”

“Yeah, don’t mow the lawn with a hangover.” He mumbled.

Jenna arched an eyebrow at him, Liam shook his head.

“It’s not the hangover, I hit my head last night.” He said, to which his mother started laughing, “Hey, it was pretty hard might I add.”

“I’m sorry, baby. How drunk were you?” Liam shrugged in response. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, someone took care of me.”

“Oh?” Jenna asked, curiously.

“Yeah, but it’s no big deal.” He shrugged.

“You’ve been here a week, sweetie. Just give it some time, no need to jump the gun.” She cautioned.

“But if you just saw him, mom. You’d understand.” Liam mumbled. “He’s… best friends with Brett.” Liam groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Like I said, give it time. You’ll find someone special and you’ll forget all about this guy.” Jenna assured him.

He wanted to nod his head in agreement, but he also didn’t want to forget about Theo just yet.

“We’re not mad, you know?” Jenna said, “But we are worried about you falling back into a routine of acting out.”

“No, I promise. Nothing like this will happen again, it’s just been a weird week I guess. I mean, sure I’d like to hang out with my friends again at some point but definitely not like that.” Liam admitted.

The whole high school party scene wasn’t for him. Parties were never the best for him, not after the spin the bottle ordeal. He really had only gone because Theo invited him (though he’d never admit that to Mason, because _reasons_ ) he also wasn’t expecting on getting drunk and making a fool of himself in front of Theo, but it happened, and he couldn’t do anything about it now.

“You’re a good kid, Liam. I trust you to make good decisions, I know that sometimes you get a little mixed up, but that’s okay.” Jenna sighed before continuing, “And I will be driving you to and from school until I figure out if I’m mad at Mason or not.”

“No mom, he wasn’t even drinking.” Liam tried.

“Well, thank god for that considering he drove you home.” She replied, “But he did bring the party up so for now, we’re car-pooling.”

Liam knew not to argue, he was already on thin ice with his mother as it was and while Jenna Geyer was a very understanding woman, he knew when he had pushed enough buttons. His first week of being in Beacon Hills had proved that. First, it was fighting with Brett which yes, he did tell on himself, but it was also coming home drunk that made up the majority.

“How is Mason going to know not to pick me up?” Liam mumbled.

“Because I already took care of it.” She replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take the time and say how much I love the Thiam fandom... like every creator that I have stumbled across, they are extremely nice and extremely talented!!! I'm just really glad that this fandom is so genuinely caring :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so it's been like a month and 11 days since I last updated so... HERE I AM.  
> also, it's almost 5 am.. so any mistakes are being ignored for now haha but point them out if you find any!

Liam had been worried that his mom had told Mason’s parents that he was drinking, and he couldn’t even warn him or apologize to him. Luckily, she hadn’t though and when Liam met up with Mason and Corey at school on Monday, they were both relieved that she didn’t because Mason hadn’t even had a sip. 

“Your mom kind of freaked me out when she called,” Mason said as he walked up to Liam’s locker, “She yelled at me and then thanked me for bringing you home safely.”

Liam shook his head but still had a slight smile on his face, “Yeah. I would have warned you, but she took my phone. Just be glad she didn’t call your mom.” Slamming his locker shut, he continued on, “Dude, she made me mow the grass with a hangover.”

Corey laughed, “So I take it you’re grounded?” Liam rolled his eyes over their amusement and nodded his head.

“I wouldn’t even care if I didn’t get my phone taken away.” He frowned, slinging his book bag onto his shoulder as they started walking off towards their first classes. “See ya at lunch?”

Mason nodded his head, “Yeah, sure.”

Leaving the two alone, he stepped into the classroom and took his seat next to Corey’s empty one. He didn’t want to be present for the lip locking between him and Mason or them making fun of his punishment, so going to class a few minutes before the bell didn’t hurt him too much. It’s not like he would be alone with all the other students bustling around the room. It was too early for people to be this noisy, especially on a Monday.

Liam hadn’t realized how much he had used his phone before not having it in an arm’s reach. He would be playing his stupid ‘8 ball pool’ game right now if he could but no, he’s stuck with nothing to do until class starts. He only hoped that Corey and Mason would separate for air soon, so he wouldn’t be so bored and so that he could stop scolding himself of being too dependent on his phone for a distraction. Instead of taking the time to study over the material, he decided to count the tiles in the ceiling. Of course, counting the tiles wasn’t a good enough distraction for keeping his thoughts from Theo.

He was dreading having to sit next to him in class after drunkenly outing his friend. Mason said it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was, he knew that from experience. Thankfully, he didn’t sit next to him for first period, so he could keep his head down and avoid him. As good as that sounded Liam knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid him for too long. He didn’t have it in him to be a rude person and something about Theo told him it was going to be damn near impossible to ignore the guy.

Corey was followed into the room by Theo, the two of them discussing something Liam couldn’t make out. They parted ways and Corey sat down beside him. He wanted to ask what they were talking about, but it really wasn’t his place to ask. Looking over at Theo, he was met with a small smile. That’s it! Liam knew it then, that smile is going to be the reason it will be damn near impossible to ignore the guy. Liam returned it before turning towards the teacher who was starting today’s lesson.

Liam was worried about sitting next to Theo in their shared math class as well, but he took a deep breath and pushed himself into the classroom, sitting down in his seat and trying to keep himself from stressing too much over the empty chair next to him. Liam succeeded in not looking at Theo when he walked into the classroom but once the boy had cleared his throat, he knew he was a goner. He takes his time to turn and look over at him, turning his head slowly and avoiding eye contact if he could. Theo looked as pleasant as always, a slight grin on his face.

“You didn’t accept my friend request.” Theo says. That’s what he was upset about? Liam felt relief wash over him. He could handle this.

“Uh, my mom took my phone and computer away after the party.”

Theo must have felt pleased with the answer because he nodded, “You were pretty wasted, I could see why she would have been mad.”

“That and the fight with Brett.” Liam admitted.

“I’m still confused about that.” Theo laughed.

Liam shook his head, “It’s not my place to speak about it.”

“You already did.” Theo shrugged. “And just so you know, I knew about Brett and Nolan, how they don’t know about each other’s crush beats me.”

“Thank god.” Liam replied, “I mean, I still feel really bad over saying it, believe me. But I’m just glad it wasn’t someone other than you… I would never push someone into _that_.”

Theo accepted Liam’s words with another small smile and Liam fought with himself to look away, to focus on anything other than the boy next to him. All he needed was a distraction, he tried keeping his mind on the board ahead of him, or his head in the textbook but it was hard when all he wanted to do was steal another glance at Theo.

The rest of the week, things didn’t get much better. Liam couldn’t keep himself distracted long enough and his thoughts always went straight back to Theo. Sure, they spoke and were friendly with each other, but Liam couldn’t help but think that Theo kept acting strange whenever he was near him. Never looking at him for too long and he made sure to keep their conversations short. Admittedly, this drove Liam’s mind mad.

It was after math class on Friday when Liam gets pulled into a small room, panic rising in his chest when he’s shut up in the dark. The lights flick on and he learns he’s in a janitor’s closet, noticing the mop bucket and some brooms. He quickly turns around to find Theo standing behind him, blocking the door. Liam instantly opens his mouth to question what was happening.

“Just be quiet for a minute, okay?” Theo asked, holding his ear to the door.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Liam said, earning a quick glare from Theo before he turned his eyes to the floor. Liam could see that he was clenching and unclenching his fist. He took a deep breath, fearing what was to come and he instantly put his guard up when Theo started moving closer.

“Theo, what are yo-”

“Shut up.” Theo whispered. “ _Please_.”

Liam furrowed his brows at the tone of Theo’s voice. The sound of desperation made Liam feel weak. About as weak as Theo looked, who looked as if he was about to crumble if someone barely even touched him.

“Hey, you can talk to me,” Liam offered.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Theo’s voice rasped as he stepped closer.

Liam wished he could back up, to put more space between them but he wasn’t able to. The janitor’s closet was too small. Liam bit his lip as his nerves decided to kick in. Theo’s eyes turned dark as he studied the movement and Liam had to look away. They were so close, they were almost touching. Liam mustered up the confidence to look into Theo’s eyes, realizing it was a mistake when he met the boy’s bloodshot stare. He was scared to move, scared of what would happen if he did.

Liam nearly jumps out of his skin when a bell rings, he could tell Theo wasn’t suspecting it either as he nearly falls from lurching backwards. Liam watched him, his own chest heaving as Theo took a deep breath before finally looking at Liam, eyes wide with terror.

“I’m sorry.” Theo said, before he took off towards the door, swinging it open and running out before Liam had a chance to say anything.

Liam could feel himself start to shake, his nerves completely taking over as he slowly made his way out of the closet. He was in a daze as he made his way through the halls, making his way to the cafeteria where his friends would be having lunch soon. He sat at their usual table and waited for them to show up. He had no idea what the hell just happened. Was Theo going to kiss him? He couldn’t have been.

 Liam saw the signs, he knew it was exactly what Theo was going to do and as much as he wanted to feel Theo’s lips against his own, he knew it was a bad idea. Part of him still wishes it happened.

Before he knew it, the cafeteria was filling with students, he waited for one of his friends to show up so he wouldn’t feel so alone. Only, he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice anyone sit down beside him.

“Earth to Liam?”

Liam’s head whipped around to the sound of the voice. Finding that Nolan and Mason had appeared.

“Woah, what’s wrong with you? Why weren’t you in class?” Mason asked.

He looked between them, he wasn’t sure what to say or what excuse to make up, so he stayed quiet.

“It looks like he just saw a ghost… Liam, are you okay? You’re like, really pale.” Nolan said.

“Are you sick?” Mason asked, furrowing his brows.

Liam shook his head quickly, “I- I’m fine… I was just thinking about something.”

“Oookay.” Nolan replied, “Anything you need help with?”

“No!” Liam said, a little too loudly.

“Okay… well if you need to talk about it,” Mason said, looking towards Nolan, “We’re here for you.”

Liam nodded his head but felt like he was going to vomit. He didn’t know what to do next. Should he pretend that nothing happened and move on? Was it crazy of him to wish Theo had kissed him? He knew he wouldn’t be able to forget about it and move on, this was _Theo_. The guy who was straight, the guy who wasn’t into other guys. The guy he was drawn to from day one.

“Ugh, I forgot my book bag in History, I’ll be back.” Nolan groaned. “Will you watch my tray?”

“Sure thing.” Mason smiled, turning to Liam as soon as Nolan was out of earshot.

“Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?”  

“Theoalmostkissedmeandthenranaway”

“What?” Mason asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“Theo almost kissed me.” Liam repeated in a low whisper, “I mean, I think he was going to.”

“What!” Mason yelled, failing to stop himself.

“Shh!!!” Liam panicked, looking around to make sure his friend didn’t draw any attention to them. “Look, he ran off. He apologized and then ran. What does that mean, Mason?”

“Okay, okay… Maybe he’s confused?” Mason tried, “Because honestly, everyone thought of him as being straight, he’s made it abundantly obvious before.”

“So, you’re saying he’s experimenting?” Liam asked, hurt washing over him, “With me?”

“No, no, no!” Mason gasped, “I’m just saying maybe he got scared? Don’t you remember how it was when you were coming to terms?”

Of course Liam remembers, it’s not exactly something you can forget.

“How am I supposed to sit next to him in class after this? Oh my god.”

“It’s going to be okay, do you want to talk later?” Mason rushed, “Here comes Corey.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Liam nodded, trying to compose himself.

Corey sat down and glanced between his boyfriend and Liam, picking up on the tension easily. He decided to ignore it though, which Liam was thankful for.

“You’re not eating?” He asked Liam.

“I don’t have much of an appetite right now.” Liam replied.

“You should still probably eat something before the scrimmage tonight.” Corey suggested.

Liam groaned, “Oh my god, I completely forgot about it! I can’t deal with this today.” He pouted, Mason gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder while Corey looked on in confusion.

Liam didn’t know what to do, his mind was racing with thoughts and he wasn’t quite sure how to turn them off. Why did Theo do that? Was he just curious and now that he almost got it out of his system, was he completely repulsed? Is that why he ran?

Nolan returned with his bookbag in hand and a small smile plastered on his face. He made eye contact with Liam briefly.

“You okay?” He asked again.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” Liam replied, hoping his smile was convincing enough.

Theo didn’t show up to his Bio class. Which Liam blamed himself for. How could he have caused one person this much trouble? He’s only been here for two weeks. How could he have caused this much trouble this quickly? He’d already been in a fight, gotten completely wasted, and now he made someone question their life and sexuality, something he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

By the end of the day, Theo had made it to their last class, Art. He didn’t look like he was sick or upset but he also didn’t spare a glance in Liam’s direction. He kept his head down and busied himself with his work. Liam decided to do the same, only talking to Nolan when the thoughts in his head became too loud.

Nolan was working on another drawing of hands, only it was different this time. It was two hands brought together, like when someone is holding water in their palms.

“You really like hands, don’t you?” Liam asked.

“This set, anyway.” Nolan smiled. “Hands guide us through life, they’re a big part of us.”

Liam nodded his head in agreement, watching as Nolan perfected the shading and detail.

“Plus, this person’s hands are amazing.” Nolan mumbled, Liam wanted to look over in Brett’s direction in the worst way, but he didn’t want to chance catching Theo’s eye.

“And uh, does this person know how much you like… their hands?” Liam smirked.

“Are you kidding?” Nolan asked, dropping his pencil. “I’d rather not lose my life, thank you.”

“So, this person doesn’t know you like them?” Liam pondered.

“No, no. Definitely not.” Nolan shook his head vehemently. “That would be a disaster.”

“Why do you think it would be a disaster?”

“Because it’s me?” Nolan laughed.

Liam understood Nolan in that moment. He struggled with his self-image at times. Never fully believing that anyone could find him appealing.

“You’re joking, right? I’m willing to bet loads of people find you attractive.” Liam replied.

Nolan shrugged, “Maybe… anyway, are you sure you’re okay? You were kind of upset at lunch.”

“I’m okay.” Liam said, glancing back at his sketch pad. His trees didn’t turn out the way he wanted them to.

“You sure? You didn’t look too good.” Nolan said, “I was worried.”

Liam found it in him to share a genuine smile, “I feel better now, I was just a little stressed.”

At practice, Finstock had them run laps. Which had been great for Liam. It gave him a chance to try and clear his head a little before the scrimmage tonight. He was glad that he didn’t have to do much of anything else, he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on making a goal anytime soon, he hoped he would be able to for the game.

When they were done with practice, Liam decided to hang back with Corey and Nolan considering most of the team did as well. There was really no point in going all the way home and then coming back when there wasn’t much time to do so.

Mason came by soon after their practice was cut early, he had brought food with him to which Liam was thankful for. He hadn’t eaten lunch earlier and he actually had an appetite now, so the snack wrap Mason gave him helped a lot.

He also used Mason’s phone to call his mother and let her know about the game that he had forgotten about. He had to leave a voicemail, which he knows how much his mother hates, but it was either that or have her show up and be angry with him for not calling at all.

Sitting around with his friends made him feel better. This week had been stressful and what had happened earlier had made it worse but being with his friends and listening to their banter had made him relax. When he looked around at the crowd starting to form in the bleachers, and the opposing team entering the other side of the field, he didn’t even feel nervous over the fact that this was his first time playing.

“Dude, there’s your mom.” Mason said, pulling him back to the field.

“Hey boys,” She greeted Mason and Corey before glancing to Nolan, “I don’t believe I’ve met this one.”

“Oh, this is Nolan... he’s the one that was here when I tried out.” Liam offered, “Nolan, this is my mom.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nolan smiled.

“You as well.” Jenna smiled. “Liam didn’t tell me there was a game tonight.”

“I forgot.” He mumbled.

“It’s just a scrimmage, it’s not a big deal.” Mason said, afraid to look at Jenna.

“Oh, I’m not mad at you, Mason.” Jenna sighed, “No need to look like a hurt puppy.”

Mason’s eyes shot up to meet hers, she offered him a hug. He gladly accepted the hug and Liam could tell that he felt relaxed knowing that his mother wasn’t holding a grudge against him. They even sat together in the stands watching the game. He also saw that Theo was sitting close to Mason with his sister and couple of people Liam didn’t know. Mason looked worried and Liam regretted telling him about the almost kiss and hoped that Mason wouldn’t blurt it out. That wouldn’t be good for anyone. He wasn’t going to let it affect him, though. He was going to have a good game and forget all about him.

So that’s what he did. Beacon Hills beat Westmount by five points. Earning their personal best score, scrimmage or not. Even Brett had been impressed by Liam’s ability to escape the other players. Liam had been so focused on the game that he even surprised himself.

They were in the locker rooms, Brett fresh from the shower as he approached Liam.

“A bunch of us are going to celebrate, if you want to come.” He offered.

“Thanks, but I’m kind of grounded,” Liam sighed, “Next time?”

Brett nodded and wandered over towards the door. “You did good out there.” He said, and then he was gone. Today was such a weird day, he shook his head and went to shower.

Liam was quick to clean himself, having to meet his mother soon after the game, since technically his Mason privileges were still kind of revoked. Making his way down the hall, he failed to notice the footsteps behind him until it was too late. He had been pulled into the janitor’s closet once again, this time he was pushing the person off of him.

“Relax,” Theo said, “It’s just me.” He flashed his phone screen, lighting up the room before finding the light switch, letting light flood through the small room.

“How do you expect someone to relax after what happened earlier? And then you just ran away!” Liam found himself saying, surprising himself with the tone.

Theo’s eyes were wide as he stared at him, “Look, I’m sorry. That’s… not like me at all.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” Liam mumbled, ignoring the way it stung to see Theo wince at his pettiness.

“You don’t understand… my dad is… and my mom,”

“It’s okay. I get it.” Liam interjected.

“What did you mean by ‘you heard’?”

Liam rolled his shoulders; did he really have to be the one to explain himself right now? He hadn’t been the one to almost kiss someone and run earlier.

“I just, heard that you weren’t the kind of guy that went around kissing other guys.” Liam replied. Theo just hung his head as if he was ashamed, staring down at the floor.

“Word of advice? You can’t just go around cornering people trying to figure it out _and then_ _running off_.” Liam said. “It doesn’t exactly work that way and you could really end up messing with someone’s head.”

Liam wasn’t trying to make Theo feel bad as he knew the boy was already going through a lot and he regretted the look that came across Theo’s face as the words registered in his mind.

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that… I was doing fine before you got here.” he said lowly. “I- I kept my head down and ignored whatever I was feeling because it was easier that way and then _you_ _happened_. You showed up, sending me through loops.”

Liam took it the wrong way, he didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want to feel belittled by a guy that he thought he was attracted to. “Look, I need to go meet my mom.”

“I’m a little confused with my feelings right now, but I was messed up long before you showed up and I know what I said was harsh, I didn’t mean to make it sound like it was your fault.”

“You’re not messed up, Theo.” Liam asked, reaching out to comfort Theo before he noticed him tense. Liam quickly decided against it, he didn’t want him to run off again.

“My parents don’t exactly agree with...” Theo trailed off.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Liam frowned, looking down at his feet. He truly did wish everyone could accept each other the way his parents or Mason’s did.

“I’m really sorry.” Theo said again.

“It’s okay.” Liam replied.

Theo nodded his head, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.” He mumbled, “Glad we… cleared that up.”

Liam stared at Theo for a few seconds, his head was down, and his eyes were watching the floor. Liam could tell that something else was bothering him.

“Are you going to be okay?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine I guess.” Theo replied.

“My offer from earlier still stands, you can talk to me.”

Theo shook his head, moving out of the way slightly, “Your mom’s probably waiting.”

“I don’t want to leave without making sure you’ll be okay, I’m here.” He tried.

“Aren’t you grounded?”

“Yeah,” Liam laughed.

Theo shook his head, smirking slightly, “Go on, I’ll see you Monday.”

Theo's demeanor had changed in a way that had Liam believing he would be okay, he nodded and made his way out into the hall. He stood there for only a few seconds before he turned around to look at Theo, who surprisingly wasn’t staring at the floor this time.

“In the meantime, you could try talking to Brett," He suggested, "Obviously, he knows what you’re going through, at least a little bit. I’m here for you but he is your best friend. It’ll be good to talk to him.”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“I would love to stay, but if I ever want to get my phone back, to at least be able to talk to you, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Theo nodded. “I should go too, Brett is probably waiting for me.” He smiled at Liam before exiting the closet.

Liam watched him walk down the hall before he shook his head and made his way to the front of the school where his mother was waiting.

“It’s about time you showed up.” Jenna said teasingly.

“Sorry.” Liam smiled, buckling his seat belt quickly. “Got a little caught up.”

Jenna shook her head and clicked her tongue, “And here I was actually thinking about giving you your phone back.”

“You can definitely still do that.” He smiled innocently.

“What am I going to do with you?” She shook her head, “You will be on a probation, you know that, right?”

“Yes, totally.” Liam replied, “And have I mentioned how sorry I still am?”

“Keep in mind that I’m only giving you your privileges back because work is coming in and I can’t keep driving you back and forth every day. Mason, if he can, shall continue to drive you.”

“I understand.” Liam nodded.

“I don’t know, maybe I should drag this out a little bit longer.” Jenna smirked, “Maybe you could ride the bus?”

“Mooom.” Liam groaned as they pulled up in front of the house.

“Fine. First, help with the groceries.” She replied, popping the trunk before getting out, “Good thing I didn’t get anything that would spoil before I got your voicemail.”

Liam did help with the groceries, he even helped put them away before he gave his mother the best puppy dog eyes he could manage.

“Okay fine.” Jenna said, rolling her eyes and walking off to retrieve Liam’s possessions.

“Probation starts now.” She said, handing Liam his phone and laptop.

“Thank you!” He said before running upstairs to his bedroom.

He put his phone on its charger before turning it on. He sent a quick message to Mason, letting him know that he was finally free, only for Mason to add him to a group chat instead of actually replying to him.

* * *

 

**_Mason, Corey, Nolan_ **

**_“Liam is now with us.” – Mason - 8:04 PM_ **

_“Well that doesn’t sound ominous at all.” - 8:04 PM_

**_“LIAAAAM!” – 182-897-3251 - 8:05 PM_ **

**_“Welcome to the dark side.” – Corey - 8:05 PM_ **

_“You all are strange… I take it Nolan is the one yelling?” - 8:06 PM_

**_“Yes.” – 182-897-3251 - 8:06 PM_ **

_“Got it. Corey, is that a Star Wars thing?” - 8:07 PM_

**_“Excuse me??? “Star Wars thing?” What the hell?” – Mason - 8:09 PM_ **

**_“Oh no!” – Nolan - 8:09 PM_ **

_“Love you, bro?” - 8:10 PM_

**_“Ooh, he bro’d you.” – Nolan - 8:10 PM_ **

**_“What’s your point?” – Corey - 8:12 PM_ **

**_“Tough crowd.” – Nolan - 8:12 PM_ **

**_“I can’t believe you had the audacity to say that. I can’t believe you still haven’t watched Star Wars. I am appalled.” – Mason - 8:15 PM_ **

_“It’s not that big of a deal.” – Liam - 8:15 PM_

**_“I haven’t seen Star Wars.” – Nolan - 8:16 PM_ **

**_“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!” – Mason - 8:18 PM_ **

**_“Calm down, Mase.” – Corey - 8:18 PM_ **

**_“Okay, fine. So, Liam, how did you get your phone back?” – Mason - 8:20 PM_ **

_“I’m a good child.” - 8:20 PM_

**_“Did you cry?” – Mason - 8:21_ **

_“Wooow. That was ONE time.” - 8:21 PM_

**_“Wait. I want to hear this story.” – Corey - 8:22 PM_ **

_“It’s nothing.” - 8:22 PM_

_“Now, if you guys don’t mind, I have some serious facebook stalking to do.” - 8:22 PM_

**_“Who???” – Nolan - 8:23 PM_ **

**_“Yeah, who?” – Mason - 8:23 PM_ **

_“;)” - 8:24 PM_

**_"..." - Corey - 8:24 PM_ **

**_“Accept my friend request while you’re at it, you coward.” – Nolan - 8:24 PM_ **

_“Bold of you to assume that I want to be friends.” - 8:25 PM_

**_“:(” – Nolan - 8:25 PM_ **

* * *

 

Liam clicked out the group message and clicked on his facebook app, the friend request from Theo was still there, along with the one from Nolan. He accepted both and went to Theo’s profile right away. His profile photo was of him laying shirtless on a lounge chair, Liam guessed he was by a pool or something, he did notice the lavish pool at his house the night of his party. He almost jumped out of his skin as he got a message notification, not that he was staring at Theo’s body or anything, you couldn’t see anything from the chest down.

 ** _“That was pretty quick.”_** Theo’s message had said. Liam scrolled up to find that Theo hadn’t responded to Liam’s drunken message, to which he was thankful for. It was embarrassing enough without a reply.

* * *

 

** Theo Raeken **

**_“So, I talked to Brett…” - 8:30 PM_ **

_“How did that go?” - 8:31 PM_

**_“Better than expected. To quote him directly, ‘It’s about time, dumbass.’." - 8:32 PM_ **

_“That sounds like Brett.” - 8:32 PM_

**_“He’s honestly not that bad… what happened between you two?” - 8:33_ **

_“Fifth grade mystery, I’m not sure. He did invite me to celebrate after the game, but I was still grounded then. Oops.” - 8:35 PM_

**_“It happens, I guess. I don’t talk to anyone I was friends with in fifth grade. Except Nolan, but he doesn’t come around much anymore.” - 8:36 PM_ **

_“I still have Mason, but we’ve been friends since the beginning of time, so…”_

_“I’m on probation, by the way. That’s how I got my phone back so quick.” - 8:38 PM_

**_“Well, if it works lol” - 8:39 PM_ **

_“I swear I’m not trying to avoid you, but my mom just called me down to dinner and there’s a no phones rule.” - 8:40 PM_

**_“And we wouldn’t want to push your probation, would we?” - 8:40 PM_ **

_“Exactly. I’ll message you when I’m done. I’ll be quick.” - 8:41 PM_

**_“Take your time. :)” - 8:41 PM_ **

* * *

 

Liam went downstairs without replying. His mother had him set the table before dinner was ready, he wore a smile on his face the whole time. David had got home early, which is why they were having such a late dinner. It’s been a while since he has sat down with both of them for a meal. Well, not that long but Liam definitely felt better with both of them here.

“What has you so happy?” His mother asked, smiling at his behavior.

“Nothing, it was just an interesting day.” Liam shrugged.

“No problems today?” David asked, raising a brow in question.

“Nope. I may have made a new friend.” He replied, not even bothering to hide the grin that stretched across his cheeks.

“Well, that’s good.” Jenna smiled.

“Even Brett wasn’t his usual self.” Liam smirked, “Like I said, interesting day.

Jenna shared a look with David, the actions not going unnoticed by Liam. He didn't say anything about it though, just served himself some dinner while he continued to feel giddy over the events of the day. Nobody talked much during dinner, only his parents having light discussions about work.

“Sorry I missed the game, Liam. I’ll make the next one.” David had said, helping Liam clear the table.

“It’s no big deal. Just a scrimmage," Liam shrugged, "We won, though."

“And is that because of you?” David smirked.

“I might have helped, but the team isn’t that bad. There’s some good players. Like my friend Nolan." He replied, looking back to the dishes in his hands, "I guess I can admit that Brett is pretty good too."

“Well, it’s good to hear that you're enjoying the team, son." David said, patting Liam on the shoulder. "Remember what I always say, play smart-”

“Not hard,” Liam smiled, nodding his head, “I know.”

Liam went back up to his room after cleaning the dishes, he opened his phone to find more messages from the group chat, Mason on his own, and a facebook message from Theo.

* * *

 

**Mason**

**_“You’re totally stalking Theo, aren’t you?” – Mason - 9:30 PM_ **

**_“I saw that you became friends… by stalking… both of you…” – Mason - 9:32 PM_ **

_“We actually talked after the game, we’ve been messaging each other on facebook.” - 9:40_

**_“Yeah, I’m going to need those details.” – Mason - 9:41 PM_ **

Liam ignored Mason and opened his older messages from Theo,

**“ _Had to do the dinner thing. Feel free to text me, I’m told it’s easier." - 9:16 PM_**

Liam smiled before saving the number Theo had send him and opened a new text message.

* * *

 

**Theo**

 

_“Greetings.”_

_"This is Liam." - 9:43 PM_

**_“Salutations.”  - 9:44 PM_ **

_“Sorry it took me so long." - 9:45 PM_

**_“You're fine, I would have had to leave too." - 9:45 PM_ **

_"So what are you doing now?" - 9:47 PM_

**_"Trying to do some homework, you?" - 9:50 PM_ **

_"Yeah, I'm just getting started. Math sucks." 9:51 PM_

 

**_“I could help? We could hang out sometime?” - 9:52 PM_ **

**_“Brett is dragging me to some club tomorrow night. He said Mason and Corey go all the time." - 9:54 PM_ **

**_“You could come along too?” - 9:55 PM_ **

**_“That has nothing to do with homework, I'm sorry." - 9:57 PM_ **

**_“Liam?” - 10:01 PM_ **

_“Sorry, I got distracted. But, don't worry! Isn’t hanging out how people get to know each other? It’s not weird." - 10:02 PM_

_"I'll try to come tomorrow." - 10:02 PM_

**_“What about your probation?” – 10:03 PM_ **

_“I can work with it." - 10:04 PM_

**_“Please don’t get yourself grounded, again.”_ **

**_“Because of me.” - 10:05 PM_ **

_“Technically, the last time was because of you.”_

_"That's not true, that was all me."_

_"But, I'll try not to lol" - 10:06 PM_

**_“What have I gotten myself into?” – 10:07 PM_ **

_“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself that all day.”_

_“That was joke.” - 10:08 PM_

**_“Mine too.”_ **

**_“I should go to bed soon. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” – 10:10 PM_ **

_“Yeah, I need sleep haha, I'll talk to you then.”  
"Night." - 10:12 PM _

**_“Night. :)” – 10:14 PM  
_ **

* * *

 

Liam had a dopey smile on his face as he sat in bed thinking about hanging out with Theo the next day. At first, he freaked out about it, panicked a little but he quickly recovered and agreed to go. Or at least, try. He had let Mason know that he would be joining them at the club, ignoring his protest and reminder that he was just freed of his crimes, he didn't care though. The promise of tomorrow weighed heavy on his mind and that's all he thought about as he drifted off into dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay honestly, I have A LOT written up for this story, I've just been stuck on THIS chapter for weeks and even though it may not be the best, believe me when I say it's better than what it was haha. I have so much planned and written, it's just hard working my way around the story when I have so much stuff written for the future... I should probably try writing in order or something, huh??? lol 
> 
> hopefully I will have the next chapter uploaded soon ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Liam spent the day lounging around the house with his mother. Mason had been busy at a study group and he didn’t want to subject himself to that, ignoring the fact that he probably should have gone. Spending the day with Jenna ended up being a good time, they spent their time watching movies and eating entirely too much popcorn. That is, until Liam had gotten distracted by his own thoughts. He hadn’t talked to Theo since the night before, he was too nervous to ever send a text out. He knew he was being ridiculous and knew that if you were going to meet up with someone, you should at least have the decency to talk to them. Then again, Theo hadn’t text him either.

“Okay, I have lost count on how many times you have checked that phone.” Liam gave a sheepish smile, locking the phone and letting it fall onto the cushion beside him.

“What’s going on?” Jenna pressed, pausing the movie before turning her attention to him.

“It’s nothing.” He answered, trying to ignore the look she was giving him.

“Liam, we agreed to talk about things if something is bothering you.”

“It’s nothing bad,” He reassured, slumping his shoulders, “I was just checking if I had any messages.”

“Is everything okay with you and Mason?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. I was just kind of hoping for someone else to text me, though.”

“Does this have anything to do with the boy from the party?”

“Yeah... we’re supposed to be hanging out… like tonight,” He frowned, glancing at his phone again, “But I haven’t heard from him today.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” She asked.

“No.”

Jenna tilted her head at him, “Have you considered that maybe he’s waiting for you to text him?”

“He invited me,” He said with a slight shake of his head, “He should text me, right?”

“It doesn’t matter who texts who first, Liam. Neither one of you should leave the other person hanging.” Her tone was gentle, honest. Liam knew she was right. He sighed, grabbing his phone to type out a message to the boy who was occupying his thoughts once again.

Liam spent entirely too long trying to figure out what he should send to Theo. Finally settling on just sending a simple message saying he was excited about hanging out. It was simple, yes. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that rested itself in his chest or the prickling sensation lining the back of his neck.

“He’s not going,” Liam muttered, throwing his head back against the couch

“Oh no, did he cancel?” His mother asked him, Liam looked up to meet her eyes and shook his head.

“No, but he’s going to.” He replied, “He hasn’t replied yet and I don’t think he’s going to.”

Jenna’s eyes softened and she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Liam, you’re just nervous. It’s normal to be nervous.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Liam huffed before nibbling on his bottom lip. Everyone got nervous over something, he wasn’t going to pretend they didn’t. He just didn’t want to admit that _he_ was nervous.

A lot of things could go wrong, but the main thing Liam thought about was being stood up. It happens all the time, people sit around and wait for their date to show up, only for them to never come.

He just had to remind himself that it wasn't a date and it surprising made him feel a little bit better.

The feeling of dread spiked in his chest again as his phone vibrated from a notification. Theo had replied and elief washed over him when he read that Theo he was excited to hang out as well.

Liam was still smiling when he turned back to the movie his mother had put back on. She looked back at him, smiling when she caught sight of his.

“Everything good?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. Now, if you come home drunk again, I will not hesitate to ground you for the next twenty years.”

Liam laughed before relaxing into the couch, “You don’t have to worry, I’m never drinking again.”

*

Mason and Corey had offered to drive Liam to the club, and once they arrived to the crowded parking lot, the three of them made their way inside. Liam instantly noticed the couples and groups dancing all around the place. The music started buzzing through Liam’s chest as a catchy song was blaring over the speakers. He looked around the club, watching as the lights flashed on people’s faces and bodies as he was searching for one face in particular. Brett was easy to find, the guy towered over everyone else as he made his way through the crowd to get to the bar.

Mason winked at Liam before grabbing Corey’s hand and slinking off into the crowd before Liam could protest them leaving him alone.

“Liam?” Hearing Theo’s voice sound behind him surprised him, he wasn’t expecting someone to shout his name. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before turning around to face him. The timid smile Theo was wearing seemed like such a foreign gesture and he realized he didn’t quite like it.

“Theo.” Liam called, grinning widely, “It’s good to see you.” He felt better when he saw Theo’s expression relax a little.

“Yeah, you too.” Theo shouted back, stepping closer to Liam.

“Do you want to find something to drink?” Liam suggested.

“Yeah, the bar is over there.” Theo pointed before smiling, “But no alcohol. We don’t want to threaten your probation.”

Liam rolled his eyes before nodding and following Theo towards the bar. Theo ordered two bottles of water before handing one off to Liam and finding them a place along the wall and away from the crowd.

“Are you sure you’re okay with being here?” Liam asked, but Theo didn’t get a chance to reply before Mason and Corey stumbled over to them.

“Dude, you need to get out there. The crowd is crazy tonight.” Mason said, dragging Liam by the arm.

He threw his bottle of water to Corey and looked at Theo apologetically, watching as he shrugged.

“I’ll wait here.” Theo yelled, Corey staying with him, stealing a drink of Liam’s water.

Mason led him out into the crowd, “Why aren’t you two dancing or something?”

“I don’t think he likes the club,” He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“You’re really failing at this whole date thing.” Mason shouted.

Liam shook his head, “It’s not a date, we’re… friends.”

“Well, whatever you call it, you’re still failing.” Mason replied, “Maybe you should try talking to him.”

“We were talking until you came over.” Liam pointed out.

Mason rolled his eyes, “Okay fine. Let’s just go back over there.” He pushed Liam by the shoulders, ushering for Liam to turn back the way they came.

The two of them made their way back to Theo and Corey, the latter giving Liam his bottle back. Liam frowned at finding it empty, Corey just grinned smugly before disappearing into the crowd with Mason once again.

“Do you-”

“Maybe we-”

Liam snapped his mouth shut, he didn’t want this to be more awkward so he nodded for Theo to continue.

“Do you want to get some air?” Theo finally asked. Liam nodded eagerly, following behind Theo as they made their way outside, he noticed that Theo looked a little tense as he leaned against the outside of the building.

“You okay?” He asked. Theo nodded his head.

“Yeah, yeah.” He replied, “Just don’t think I’m really a club person.”

“I get it, it’s loud, crowded, and sweaty and-”

“Unsanitary?” Theo smirked.

“Am I ever going to live that night down?” Liam asked, rolling his eyes.

“Nope.” Theo grinned, adding too much emphasis on the ‘p’. “You’re right about the crowds, though. It get’s weird sometimes.”

“I thought you had parties all of the time?”

“My sister has parties,” He corrected, “And Brett. I’m not that into them.”

Liam nodded, “Okay, well we don’t have to go back in, have anything else in mind?” He asked, looking back at Theo who was glancing down the road behind him. Liam’s eyes followed his to where a small building flashed a neon sign reading “Arcade” above it.

“Oh, you are so on.” Liam smiled, pulling out his phone to text Mason where he would be.

*

Theo beat Liam in air hockey and some shooter game. Liam was able to gain some pride back when he beat Theo in skee ball and even though they weren’t really competing, Liam still counted it as a win. They tied in air hockey and then Theo won during Mario Kart because he used a blue shell on the last lap. Liam had called him a cheater, but he laughed it off anyway.

They took a break from playing and Theo had bought them some giant pretzels and waffle fries from the concession stand. Liam made a mental note to pay him back in the very near future, even though he told him not to worry about it.

“So, besides cheating at Mario Kart, what else do you like to do?” Liam smirked.

“Is this twenty questions?” Theo asked, quirking a brow.

“ _No._ ” Liam groaned. “Well, not quite as cringe worthy?”

Theo shrugged his shoulders before replying, “I don’t know, I like to read I guess. I’m pretty good at drawing or playing video games every now and then.”

“ _Cheating_ at video games.” Liam mumbled, laughing when Theo rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’ll stop. So, you don’t like Lacrosse or anything?”

“I played baseball for a while, but Beacon Hills doesn’t do baseball.” He replied, scrunching his nose. “I like Lacrosse well enough, I support the games. I just don’t play.”

“No, no. I understand.” Liam said, “What about music or tv shows? Favorite book?”

“I don’t watch much tv, really. Music is kind of a mix between genre’s, I can’t say I like a certain type. It’s just a mix of whatever I find appealing.” He replied.

“Okay what about-”

“Nope.” Theo interrupted, “It’s your turn.”

“What do you want to know then?” Liam asked, tilting his head to the side.

“What do you do in your free time?” Theo shrugged.

Liam thought for a moment before replying, “I’m a pretty boring person, to be honest. Uh, I do the lacrosse thing, video games, listen to music, although I find myself listening to stuff that’s easier to strum a long to most of the time, uh…”

“You play the guitar?” Theo asked, raising his brows in interest.

“And the piano at times, mainly holidays when the family is over. My mom made me learn.” Liam smiled, “But after I discovered the guitar, I mostly just stuck with that.”

Theo nodded his head in satisfaction. Liam couldn’t help but think about how good he looked in that moment and he tried to mentally slap himself out of it.

“These waffle fries are pretty good.” Liam said, popping another one into his mouth, trying to hide his grimace. He wondered why he always had to be so awkward.

“Do you want some more?” Theo asked, using his thumb to point towards the concession stand.

“No, I’ve had plenty.” Liam replied, “And it’s getting kind of late, we should probably find Mason and Corey soon, they’re my ride.”

“I could drive you home.” Theo suggested. Liam perked up at the thought, not sure if he was fully ready to be in a car with Theo… alone. Even though he had just spent time alone with him, he felt his heart give a nervous sort of spike.

“Are you sure?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, why not?” Theo shrugged.

“Yeah, okay.” Liam nodded. “I’ll just text Mason and let him know.”

*

The ride was actually sort of pleasant. Liam actually found a good radio station that played decent music and he was glad the situation wasn’t awkward. It felt good.

Theo looked over at him with a cute smile on his face. Liam mentally scolded himself, they’re supposed to be hanging out. Getting to know each other. Nothing else. Still, Liam could only think about being alone with Theo as the radio played on, it was hard not to let his mind explore the possibilities.

He was lost in his thoughts until Theo stopped the truck. Liam found that they were in front of his house, but he couldn’t remember giving the boy his address. He furrowed his brows for a moment until Theo spoke,

“Brett lives just two houses down, I’m not a stalker, Liam.”

“I wasn’t thinking _that_.” Liam replied.

Theo laughed, “Of course.”

Liam learned right then that he really liked the sound of Theo’s laugh. It was better than any song on any radio in any truck in the city. Whether it be Liam falsely accusing him of being a stalker, or being blamed for cheating at Mario Kart, he knew he wanted to be around to hear it.

“Tonight was fun.” Liam said.

“Even though I used a blue shell against you?” Theo grinned.

Liam scoffed and rolled his eyes fondly, “Yes, even then.”

“I agree.” Theo said, catching Liam’s eyes, “We should do it again some time.”

“Yeah,” He smiled, “We should.” In that moment, he wanted to look away, he _really_ wanted to look away for the sake of saving himself from his mind running in overdrive. Theo was the one who looked away first, wearing a small frown on his face.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked.

Theo turned to look at him, eyes almost too wide, “Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No!” Liam said, a little too loudly, “What are you talking about?”

Theo shrugged, “You just didn’t seem too sure about your answer.”

“I am,” He replied, almost missing the flinch Theo let out as he reached to grab his arm. “Sorry, no. I- I just want to make sure-”

“That it’s what I want?” Theo asked, shrinking in on himself, “Believe me Liam, it’s the one thing I’m sure about right now.”

Liam’s eyes widened, he wasn’t expecting that. He wasn’t expecting Theo to be so truthful and seemingly so dejected. He had to fix this.

“I’m sorry, I won’t…” Theo shook his head slightly, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Theo,” Liam said softly as he reached for Theo’s arm once again, “It’s okay. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable with all of this.”

Theo turned to him slowly and nodded his head, wearing a questioning look as if he was asking Liam if he was sure.

“I’m totally okay with it, if _you_ are.” He affirmed, feeling Theo’s body relax under his hold.

He ran his hand down to Theo’s and gave it a tight squeeze. “I told you I’m here for you, Theo. I’m not going anywhere.”

Theo nodded his head once again, smiling that handsome smile that Liam has fallen for.

“It may take me awhile to.. you know.. but I like you Liam.” Theo said, finding Liam’s eyes again.

“I’m not going to push you, I’m not going to rush you or anything. That’s not me," Liam replied. "I understand completely, take your time.”

Theo studied Liam’s face for a few seconds. Smiling softly before squeezing Liam’s hand in his own.

“Oh! And I  like you too.” Liam blurted, causing Theo’s smile to grow wider. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head at himself, smiling when he looked back at Theo.

“Well, as much as I hate to leave," Liam said, slowly removing his hand from Theo's, "I should probably be getting inside before my mom comes out. She can be a little embarrassing.”

“I’m sure she’s not that bad.” Theo smiled.

“You have no idea,” Liam laughed, opening the truck door and climbing out, “Anyway, let me know that you get home okay.”

Theo’s movements slowed for a moment, and then he nodded his head. “Yeah. I will.”

Theo drove away once Liam was inside. He leaned his back against the front door, pushing the teasing thoughts he had of himself over being a love-struck teenager away. He was going to allow himself to be happy over this while it lasted, it was the start of something new and he didn't want it to go away anytime soon.

On his way upstairs, he checked in on his mother, fully intent on letting her know that he was fully sober but found her asleep after peeking his head through the open door of his parents bedroom. He smiled before heading to his own, she'll probably question him to death in the morning, anyway.

Liam spent a good time begging himself to stay awake as he waited for Theo to text him so that he could to talk to him some more, but the warmth of his bed had other plans, so he replayed the night in his mind as sleep took him under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never know how to end a chapter lol  
> But, I hope you enjoyed!!! Thanks for reading!  
> Comments make my day more than anything!!! 
> 
> By the way, I've updated the tags a bit, because warnings are nice!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Study sessions, milkshakes, and meeting the parents.  
> It's about time things get official, right? ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... We're just going to pretend it hasn't taken almost three months for an update.  
> I've struggled with this all week (two months, tbh) but I think I finally got this chapter figured out. I just hope it makes sense.  
> Hope you enjoy! :D 
> 
> Also, warning for a lot of dialogue. Like, a lot.
> 
> Please don't hesitate to point out errors, I do actually appreciate them!!

* * *

 

**_Mason_ **

**_“Spill. Every. Thing. I want to know every detail.” 9:32 AM_ **

**_“EVERY. DETAIL.” 9:33 AM_ **

**_“Don’t make me call your mom. She’ll force you to tell her and then I’ll just ask her.” 9:35 AM_ **

**_“Liam??” 9:40 AM_ **

**_“Wake up.” 9:41 AM_ **

**_“That’s it! I’m coming over.”  
_ **

* * *

* * *

**_Theo  
_ **

**_“Forgot to text you last night. I got a little sidetracked with my mom. Hope I didn’t worry you.”_ **

**_“:)” – Theo 8:35 AM_ **

_“It’s all good. :)” 10:15 AM_

* * *

 

Liam shook his head at Mason's antics. He laid in bed thinking about the previous night. He had fun with Theo and he couldn't help but think about wanting to hang out with him again soon. His thoughts were interrupted by someone ringing the door bell excessively. Mason. He rolled his eyes but made his way down the stairs and to the front door. When he opened the door, Mason pushed his way through quickly.

“I can’t believe you’ve been here TWO weeks and you already have a boyfriend.”

“Would you keep your voice down?” Liam grunted, looking around quickly. "He's not my boyfriend."

“Oh shit.” Mason whispered, “Is he here?”

“Are you crazy?” Liam asked, wide eyed and glaring. “No, he isn’t here.”

Liam made his way back up the stairs, Mason following behind him closely as if he thought Liam was lying about Theo not being in his house or something. Liam was pretty sure that’s what Mason had been thinking as he immediately checked the closet and bathroom as if Liam was harboring a fugitive or something.

Liam shook his head, “You are completely insane.”

“Possibly.” Mason shrugged before sitting on the bed. “Now spill.”

“I’m not spilling anything.” Liam replied, sitting down next to his friend.

“Come on, I’m your best friend.” He begged.

“Which is why you should take my privacy into consideration.”

“Privacy? What privacy?” Mason asked, “This is Theo Raeken.”

Liam buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe he was dealing with this right now. And he thought waking up with a hangover was bad, this was much worse.

“So, you’re saying nothing happened?” Mason asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Liam shook his head, “He just gave me a ride.”

“Ohhh. I see.” Mason grinned.

“Oh my god, would you stop? We talked, that’s it.” Liam groaned, smacking the boy across the head with his pillow while he laughed.

“I’ll stop.” Mason smirked, “If you tell me what you talked about.”

Liam smiled, thinking about what Theo had said the night before, “It was nothing.”

"I don't believe you," Mason narrows his eyes, “You’re totally holding out on me.”

"I like him, Mase." Liam said. "And before you say anything, he likes me too."

The other boy nodded, "Okay, alright. But you do see why I was worried, right?"

"I do." Liam replied, "I really appreciate you wanting to look out for me, you're a great friend."

"That's what I'm here for."

"My hero."

Mason rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you didn't even kiss him. It was a date."

It was Liam's turn to roll his eyes, "I just... want to take things slow with him... for him."

"I get that. You're a good guy, Liam."

This was new for Theo and Liam wanted nothing more than to make sure he was comfortable with everything. He really didn’t want to see Theo to get hurt. If taking things slow and keeping their somewhat relationship on the down low helped, then he was all for it. Though, Liam still did feel a little bit guilty for not wanting to tell his best friend everything.

"Were you really going to call my mom?" Liam asked, hoping the threat was an empty one. He didn't need that at all.

"No," Mason said, "We only text."

Liam grimaced, "That is so weird on so many levels."

"It's really not that bad."

"What if I started texting your mother?" He challenged. 

Mason shook his head, "She doesn't know how to text."

"That is not the point I was trying to make. At all." Liam replied.

Back to their bickering but friendly ways, the two spent the rest of their day indulging in junk food and playing video games. Liam couldn't help but feel happy that Mason was willing to be open minded about Theo and he hoped that his friend could see past his judgement to allow Liam to enjoy having both of them in his life.

*

For the next two weeks, Liam only saw Theo in school. They hadn’t been alone since the night they hung out at the arcade, and sure they texted but it wasn't the same. Liam had worried that maybe he was taking things too slow, that maybe Theo just wanted to be friends instead. It wasn’t until Liam desperately needed a tutor for Biology that he got to spend more time with him, not alone like he would have liked but anytime with Theo was good enough for now.

Theo agreed to help him, having already agreed to help Corey and Nolan prepare for their next test. Liam decided to go along with them, he did need the help after all.

It was a Thursday afternoon, they were sat in the Beacon Hill’s public library with Nolan and Corey discussing the biology notes Theo had copied off for them, they were a little bit more advanced considering he was in AP but  he marked the things they would need to know for their own class. Things were going great until Theo decided to brushed his hand against Liam’s every so often. It stirred something in Liam and he found it _really_ hard to pay attention to anything but Theo’s touch. Theo caught on rather quickly, judging by the sly smile that would appear every time he did it. Of course, Liam's cheeks had probably given him away, he knew they were red.

It was quiet now, the other boys reading over their textbooks in an attempt to retain some knowledge. Liam was too busy sneaking glances at Theo instead, slightly obsessed with the way a crease formed between his eyebrows when he focused hard on the notes he had or the way his eyebrow arched when he busied himself with Corey's book. Liam wanted nothing more than to smooth out his features. He found that his favorite thing was catching Theo's eyes. Normally he would look away- embarrassed with getting caught by the one he had a fascination with... but not Theo. Not with the way he was looking at him right then, a small and relaxed smile appeared on his face as he set his hand the opposite of Liam's, letting them touch. Liam blushed and smiled in return, wanting nothing more than to hold the boy's hand in his own.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Nolan spoke, causing Liam to jump, fearing that they had been caught. He watched as the boy packed his belongings and tried to stifle a yawn. “My eyes are hurting and I’m getting hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.” Corey laughed, “But I’m with you. I feel like I’ve been reading the same sentence for ten minutes.”

They stood behind Theo, looking at Liam for a moment. Corey took it upon himself to speak.

“You need a ride, Liam?” He asked, giving Liam a knowing smile. Of course Mason had told Corey about that.

“No, I think I’m going to stay a little longer. This test is going to kill me.” He said, not giving him the satisfaction. He wasn’t going to let his _friends_ enjoy anything at his or Theo’s expense.

Corey grinned, and Nolan tried his best not too. Liam stifled the urge to roll his eyes at them for being jerks, literally behind Theo’s back.

“I’ll see you guys later.” Liam smiled.

It was only a few minutes after they left that Theo finally spoke, “And you thought Brett was an asshole.”

Liam nodded his head and laughed, “Yeah, sorry about them.”

“It’s fine.” Theo smiled. “I can drop you off if you want? I was supposed to stop at Brett’s anyway.”

“Yeah, that would be cool.” Liam smiled. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t.” He replied with an honest smile.

A few minutes passed by before either of them spoke again. And it happened to be Liam. He had to get some answers, his mind just wouldn’t shut up.

“So, can I ask you kind of a personal question?” He starts, looking up to Theo.

“Sure.” He shrugs.

“I was kind of wondering… well, you said your parents don’t agree with people being..."

"Gay." Theo finished, unbothered.

“Right.” Liam stammered, he had no idea why he was acting like this. He had no problem with people knowing _his_ sexuality. He’s still wary of protecting Theo, he guessed.

“I guess I was wondering if that’s why we haven’t hung out again? Did they find out? Did something happen? Is it because of something I said that night in front of my house?” Liam rambled.

“Liam, no. You didn’t do anything and no nothing… happened," Theo replied, "This is just still kind of new to me and I just suck at making plans at times.”

“No, you don’t. You’re perfect.” Liam said before he could stop himself. Theo grinned at his sudden outburst and reddened cheeks.

“So, you’ve told me.” He said.

“I can’t control what I say sometimes.” Liam admitted.

“It’s okay. I like it.” Theo smiled, reaching his hand out and placing it fully on top of Liam’s. “How about we hang out this weekend? Maybe we can go watch a movie or something.”

“Yeah.” Liam says quickly, cheeks heating up at Theo’s hand on his. “That sounds good. I owe you for the arcade, anyway.”

“No, you don’t.” Theo shook his head. “I can take you home now, if you're ready.”

“Okay.”

As they pulled up in front of Liam’s house, Theo spoke first.

“We’re still meeting again tomorrow, right? Bio test?”

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled before climbing out of the truck. He watched as Theo drove the short distance down to Brett’s house before he went inside.

*

“What has you so happy, sweetie?” His mother asks, catching him smiling while washing the dishes that night.

“Nothing.” He replied, failing to hide his blush.

“Okay, I don’t believe that for a minute.” Jenna replied.

“Mom.” Liam groaned.

“Does it have to do with that boy who took care of you at that party last month?” Jenna asks, knowingly. He nods his head in reply, hoping she doesn’t go all MOM mode on him and remind him about the drinking or bring up the fact that it happened at Theo’s house.

“How did you know?” He asked, watching as she quirked a brow. That was all he needed to know that there was no reason to even ask.

“Mason.” They said together.

“Of course,” Liam sighed, “It’s so weird that you text each other.”

“We just keep each other updated on things. Keeping each other in the loop.”

“And in my business.” He grumbled.

“We’re allowed to be worried.”

It was true, they were allowed to be worried and he appreciated it. He wasn’t about to let them know that, though.

“I thought you said this boy wasn’t into guys?”

Liam shrugged, “He is. But he’s not really in favor of too many people knowing just yet.”

His mother frowned, “His parents aren’t very accepting are they?”

“I don’t think so.” Liam shook his head.

“Well you tell that boy that he’s always welcome here.” Jenna said, patting Liam’s shoulder. “Invite him over for dinner for Saturday. I’d like to meet him.”

“Really?” Liam smiled.

“Anyone who gets you this excited or makes you this happy, must be special. Bring him over.” Jenna returned the smile.

Liam thought about it for a few seconds. He wondered how Theo would feel about coming to dinner at his house. It would give them a chance to hang out without having to worry about other people.

“Yeah, I’ll ask him.” Liam replied.

“Good. Ask the boy what he likes to eat, and I’ll do my best to accommodate.” She laughed, standing up and heading for the stairs.

“Mom?” Liam said, earning his mother to stop and look at him. He met her at the bottom of the stairs and threw his arms around her, engulfing her small frame into a hug.

“Thank you.” He said softly. “You’re the best.

“Oh, you’re welcome baby.” Jenna laughed, pulling away from the hug to wipe a tear from her eye.

Liam knew how lucky he was in getting the parents that he had. It makes him reflect on all the times he lashed out or skipped school before talking to them. They didn’t deserve to have a child who acted the way he used to, and he regrets ever letting other people get the best of him. He regrets ever putting them through the things he did because he was angry. It wasn’t fair to them.

“Get some sleep, okay?” She said, rubbing his arm.

“Yeah, I will soon.” He replied, watching as his mother made her way up the stairs.

Liam finished cleaning up the kitchen before he made his way to his bedroom. He grabbed his phone from his bed and read through his messages. Finding only a little bit of nonsense from his friends, mainly his friends teasing each other in their group chat. He sent a string of emojis as his answer before deciding to open his messages with just Mason.

* * *

 

_“I think I’m going to invite Theo over for dinner.” - 9:30 PM  
_

**_“WHAT??????”  
_ **

**_“Are you serious?”_ **

**_“Holy shit, dude.”  - 9:31 PM  
_ **

_“Yeah.” - 9:31 PM  
_

**_“Can I freak out about this to Corey?” - 9:35 PM  
_ **

_“No.” - 9:36 PM  
_

**_“Oh… my bad…” - 9:36 PM  
_ **

_“Lol why did you even ask?” - 9:37 PM  
_

**_“…to be a good friend?” - 9:38 PM  
_ **

_“It’s whatever, just keep it to yourselves for now, please?” - 9:40 PM  
_

**_“Of course.” - 9:41 PM  
_ **

* * *

 

Liam rolled his eyes before burying himself unto his bed. He had a lot to think about. He debated on texting Theo to ask about coming over for dinner but decided he’d just go ahead and ask him tomorrow during their study session. That kind of thing is better in person, right?

Liam would be lying he if said he never got nervous. Sure, he and Theo had hung out in a date type setting before at the arcade and they made plans to hang out again. But this was dinner. With his parents. He couldn’t help but be a little nervous about it.

 

The next day he could barely pay any attention in any of his classes. Even when he was in the school library with Theo explaining DNA polymerase, all he could think about was how worried he was that Theo might say no about coming over.

“Liam, are you listening?” Theo asked, “You’re going to need to know this for the test.”

“Yeah… I’m just uh, thinking.” He replied.

“About what?” Theo’s brows furrowed as he searched Liam’s face.

Before he could answer, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out quickly to see he had a message from Mason telling him that he was really bad at this and that he should just get it over with and asked him over for dinner.

He looked around quickly, trying to see if Mason or Corey had been watching them but he came up empty. They were really sneaky and he wouldn’t put it past them to be lurking around somewhere. He shook his head and pocketed the phone quickly.

“Liam?” Theo asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Liam said before looking at Theo’s face, wanting to get lost inside of his eyes. He shook his head quickly, “Actually, no.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Theo asked, sitting his pen down to give Liam his attention. Liam smiled softly at the motion. “What has you so worried?”

 _It’s now or never._ That’s what he told himself. He had to get this over with or he might explode.

“What’s your favorite food?” Liam asked, silently cursing himself for starting out this way. He stifled a grimace, looking at Theo for an answer.

“What?” Theo asked, looking confused.

“I- I just mean, uh, what would you like to have for dinner… at my house… with my parents?” Liam let the grimace full on attack his face this time.

Theo stared at him for a moment before a smile started spreading across his face, his eyes lit up at Liam’s embarrassment.

“How did you plan on that question going?” He asked, “Because I’m sure that wasn't it.”

Liam fondly rolled his eyes, “My mom wanted to know what you liked to eat so she could make something good and I got a little mixed up along the way.”

“I can see that.” Theo smirked. “You want to try again?”

Liam took a deep breath, “Do you want to come over for dinner?”

“When?” Theo asked.

Liam didn’t think that far ahead. “Tomorrow and I’ll need to let my mom know what you like to eat. But is that a yes? Because I can understand if you have any doubts… Brett does live a couple houses down and if you’re worried about it-”

“Liam.” Theo said grabbing Liam’s hand, instantly causing him to relax. “It’s okay, Brett’s kind of cool with it.”

“Really?” Liam gasped.

“I told you, he’s not a bad person.” Theo smirked.

Liam nodded his head, maybe he really should reconsider Brett. Nolan liked the guy for some reason other than his looks, Nolan seemed to have a pretty good judgement of character and Theo was friends with him.

“So does that mean...”

“It’s a yes, Liam.” Theo smiled, “It doesn’t matter what your mom cooks. I can eat anything.”

“I’ll let her know.” He replied.

“Sounds good.” Theo smiled.

Liam wondered how one person could make him so nervous one minute and then calm and collected the next.

“Now come on, you need to take these notes.”

Liam rolled his eyes again but did as Theo had insisted. He did need to get a good grade on this test but he couldn’t help but smile over the fact that Theo had said yes to dinner and to meeting his parents.

 -

Liam was rambling on about being worried about his Bio test with he noticed that Theo missed the turn to take them to his house.

"Uh, Theo?" Liam started

"I know, don't panic." Theo replied, he was staring ahead at the road but Liam could see him smile, "I really want a milkshake."

"Oh, okay then." He perked up.

Theo laughed at his excitement and before too long, they were pulling into a parking lot for a small diner that Liam doesn't remember seeing before. Theo assured him that they had the best milkshakes in town and that he would not regret it before he went inside to order them. Liam felt himself smile when he saw Theo talking animatedly with the woman behind the counter before looking towards him with a small wave. Liam waved back and shook his head in content. He was so happy that he had gotten so lucky to have met Theo.

“I got you chocolate, is that okay?” Theo asked when he returned, “You can trade with me if you would rather have strawberry.”

Liam smiled and shook his head before laughing lightly, “I knew you were a strawberry type person.”

“What’s wrong with strawberry?” Theo asked, feigning hurt before he slid his keys into the ignition and started making his way back towards Liam's house.

“Nothing.” Liam laughed, “It’s just very… you.”

“Is that a good thing?” Theo asked.

“Definitely.” Liam nodded, gladly taking his milkshake from Theo’s hand.

“Well, you’re definitely a chocolate person, then.”

"No I'm not."

“Okay then, what’s your favorite flavor?”

“Hmm… Mint chocolate is pretty good.” Liam replied, “Ooh! And raspberry chocolate chip!”

“You do realize that you said chocolate for both of those, right?” Theo asked.

Liam tilted his head, “Huh.”

Theo beamed, “Knew it.”

“Whatever.” Liam smiled.

Theo had pulled up in front of Liam's house, smiling at Liam before cutting the engine.

"Look, I'm just saying that chocolate seems to be the deciding factor in your choices."

"Okay, if it makes you feel better, chocolate is my favorite." Liam replied, "And you were right, this is probably the best milkshake I've had in a while."

"Told you so." Theo replied smugly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Liam loved that it wasn't awkward at all and that it was so easy to be around Theo. He wondered if Theo thought the same thing.

"Are you worried about dinner tomorrow night?"

Theo shook his head and turned to look at him, "If you're there, I have no reason to be worried."

Liam felt his face flush as a soft smile graced Theo's lips. Liam bit his own, wondering how one person could make him feel so many different things at once. He hadn't noticed how close he and Theo were before now, with the way the boy was glancing down at his lips. The air around them became thick and Liam could have sworn Theo had read his mind because the next second, he was leaning closer. Liam was almost sure his heartbeat could be heard, it was beating so fast.

“Can I kiss you?” Theo asked hesitantly.

Liam took a deep breath before he nodded eagerly, “I think you better.”

Theo smiled in return and as Liam moved closer, determination flashed through his eyes. Liam would be lying if he said he hadn't been thinking about how Theo's lips would feel on his own and now he was finally getting the chance to find out. 

It was quick and off center, just as Liam had feared it would happen. When they broke apart, he found that Theo didn't seem to mind that it was messed up, he was smiling. They looked at each other, both of them breaking into a fit of laughter before Theo placed his hand on Liam's cheek to pull him back in for another kiss, taking his time with this one. 

It was damn near perfect and Liam loved every minute of it and when Theo broke away, he found that he never wanted it to end.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Liam smiled, before kissing Theo again.

"You will." He smiled back. 

Liam made his way out of the truck, saying goodnight to Theo before he made his way inside, happiness radiating through his entire body.

*

Liam couldn't remember a time that he felt this giddy over something. This was the first time that he and Theo would be having actual dinner together, last time they were out somewhere, they had pretzels and waffle fries. This is the first time they will sit down and have a real meal. It was six thirty and they were supposed to be having dinner at seven. Liam felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest, he was so nervous. He made sure to have a decent looking outfit picked out, knowing Theo would probably be dressed nice as well.

The doorbell rang at six forty-five. He practically leaped down the stairs so that he would be the one to answer the door. When he opened, Theo stood there with a small smile on his face and flowers in his hand. Admitedly, he did look nervous, but Liam knew that he would never admit to it. 

“Hey.” Theo said after a moment.

“Hi.” Liam smiled.

“These are for your mom… I wasn’t sure if they were too much or not.” Theo said, holding out the bouquet. “I wanted to make a good first impression. I didn’t want to freak her out or anything.”

“You could never.” Liam said, shaking his head. “Anyway, she’s probably in the kitchen if you want to meet her.”

“Sure.” He replied, stepping into the house before following behind Liam.

“Mom?” Liam asked, “This is Theo.”

Jenna turned around a little too quickly, hitting her elbow on the counter on the way. She had been nervous about this as well. Any pain that she must have felt was shook off with a full smile. She looked between Liam and Theo before stepping forward.

“Hello, Theo. I’m so glad you’re joining us.” Jenna said.

“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Geyer.” He replied, holding out the bouquet, “These are for you.”

“These are beautiful.” Jenna smiled, “And please, call me Jenna.”

She took the flowers from him and gave him a hug, which must have surprised him because his eyes widened before wrapped his arms around her.

When she pulled away, she walked to Liam and leaned into him, “He’s a keeper.”

“Oh my god, please stop.” Liam groaned, Jenna only laughed before she walked to the sink and pulled out a vase for the flowers.

Theo was grinning when he looked over at him. He rolled his eyes, causing Theo to break out into laughter.

“Well boys, dinner is going slower than I had planned and David is running late, but please make yourself at home, Theo. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.” Jenna said, shooing them out of the kitchen.

“So, give me a tour, Dunbar.” Theo prompted.

“Uh, okay.” Liam said, “Well you’ve seen the kitchen and the living room, uh the dining room is through that door-”

“You’re so bad at this.” Theo said, shaking his head before smiling. “Show me your room, or where you spend most of your time, something that’s _you_.”

Liam opened the door to his bedroom, inviting Theo inside.

“Sorry if it still smells like paint, it’s been weeks, but I swear I can still smell it.” Liam said.

Theo looked around the room for a moment, taking it all in. Liam’s room wasn’t anything fancy. It was a varying sea of blue and still a little messy. Theo walked over to the desk, admiring the photos on the laptop’s screensaver. A photo of Liam and Mason when they were about six came across the screen. Liam was hanging upside down in a swing while Mason was in the process of falling, his eyes wide and a very visible motion of a scream was stretched across his face.

“Is that Mason?” Theo asked, smirking.

“Yeah.” Liam laughed. “My mom about had a heart attack afterwards.”

“I’m sure Corey would love to see it.” Theo laughed, wiggling his eyebrows.

The next photo that popped up was on of Mason, Liam, and Brett buried in sand up to their heads at a beach their parents had all taken them to.

“Okay, you have to send me this pic of Brett.” Theo laughed.

“Blackmailing purposes?” Liam smirked.

“Possibly.”

Liam followed Theo’s wandering eyes around his room.

“Come on. This is the best part.” Liam said, walking over to the window by his bed. He opened the latch and proceeded to climb out onto his roof. Theo was hesitant at first, but after he seen that Liam was sitting well secured, he relaxed and followed Liam out to where he was.

“I like it out here because I can watch the sky, and nobody can see me. It may not look like much right now but at night, it’s great. Hardly any light pollution, so I can see the stars.”

“Are they stars, Liam?” Theo asked smugly.

“Remind me again why I like you?” Liam laughed.

Theo sat next to him, their shoulders touching before Theo ran his hand over Liam’s, taking it in his. Liam felt his cheeks heat up at the touch. He looked over at Theo, watching as he turned to meet his stare. Theo tilted his head, glancing back and forth from Liam’s eyes and lips.

All Liam could do was watch the movement. Until Theo leaned in, placing his lips on Liam’s. He kissed back in an instant. Theo brought his hand up to Liam’s face before deepening the kiss. Liam could feel the world spinning. Sure, they kissed before but nothing like this, not this good. Suddenly, he was really glad that he mustered up the confidence to invite Theo over for dinner.

“That’s a good reminder.” Liam mumbled against him.

Theo laughed and shook his head, “You look good.” Eyes glancing at Liam’s button down.

“You look better.” Liam smiled.

“Are you sure it’s not too much?” He asked, “I didn’t over dress, did I? I wanted to impress them.”

“It’s perfect.” Liam said truthfully. Grabbing Theo’s hand in his and giving a slight squeeze.

“Besides, it wouldn’t have mattered what you wore. My mom already loves you.”

“It was the flowers, wasn’t it?” Theo smirked.

“They might have helped,” Liam nodded, “She doesn’t let just anyone call her Jenna.”

“That’s good to know.” Theo smiled.

Liam closed the space in between them, placing his lips on Theo’s gingerly. He could feel Theo smile against him before he kissed back. Liam pulled away when he heard the sound of a horn beeping as someone locked their car doors.

“That must be my step dad.” He said, “You ready to go back in?”

Theo nodded his head and Liam stood, pulling him to his feet. Theo went first, never letting go of Liam’s hand as he shimmied his way through the window. Once Liam was in, they made their way back downstairs, to which Jenna had told them _and_  David to make sure their hands were clean before dinner.

“So, Theo. Do you play any sports?” David asked, making light conversation.

“No, sir not anymore. I used to play baseball at my old school, but it wasn’t offered at Beacon Hills.” He replied.

“Well that’s a shame.” David replied. “Sports are good for you.”

“If you say so,” Jenna smiled. “Which you would, considering you’d lose business without them.”

“I do more than treat sport injuries, hon.” David laughed before turning towards Theo, “That reminds me, sorry for not freshening up before dinner. I usually don’t make it back in time.” He said, gesturing to himself as he was still dressed in his hospital uniform.

“Oh no, it’s no big deal to me.” Theo smiled. “I’m just glad you let me come over.”

“You’re welcome, anytime Theo.” Jenna smiled warmly.

Liam looked between his parents and Theo. The first two looked between each other, sharing smiles while the latter seemed to relax his shoulders. Liam had hope that Theo had felt welcome, and just by that motion alone, he knew he did. Liam hadn’t even realized a smile had formed across his own face until his mother pointed it out by smiling back at him.

“So, dinner was nice.” Theo said, sitting next to Liam on the couch. Liam was currently shuffling through movies to find a good one.

“Your parents are really nice.”

“Well, you haven’t run off yet, so I would agree and say it was pretty successful.” He replied.

“Come on, they’re not that bad.” Theo chuckled.

“They’re okay.” Liam smiled.

“They’re _normal_ , which is a good thing.” Theo said, “It’s nice going to a normal dinner for once.”

Liam wondered what Theo had meant by ‘a normal dinner’ but his brain wouldn’t let him ask the question.

“Oh, well you should come to dinner more often.” Liam said before he could stop himself, his could feel his cheeks growing red as he realized what he had said. He realized did that a lot around Theo.

“Is that your way of asking me on another date?” Theo smirked.

“It is, and we agree.” Jenna said, entering the room.

“Oh my god.” Liam groaned.

“Relax, Liam. I’m going upstairs.” Jenna smiled, “It was nice meeting you Theo.”

“It was nice meeting you as well.” He replied.

“Goodnight boys.” Jenna said before heading up the stairs.

Liam had his face buried in his hands, not wanting to deal with the embarrassment of his mother.

“Liam?” Theo said. Liam only groaned in response.

“Liam come on. Move your hands.” Theo said, grabbing ahold of his wrist and trying to pull his hands away, “Please look at me.”

Liam removed his hands from his face slowly, noticing how close Theo had moved towards him. Liam leaned forward, kissing Theo again.

“Yes, by the way.” Theo whispered, gently kissing Liam’s lips again.

“Hmm?” Liam said, opening his eyes.

“I’ll come over for dinner more.” He shrugged.

“Shh, not so loud. They’ll induct you into family game night or something.” Liam laughed.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Theo replied, resting his forehead against Liam’s. Liam closed his eyes once again, enjoying the silence between them.

“I know it’s kind of unconventional but, do you maybe want to… date me?” Theo asked, nervously.

Liam opened his eyes, finding Theo looking at him and waiting for answer. He looked as nervous as he sounded.

“Isn’t _this_ a date?” Liam mumbled.

“I meant like, do you maybe want to be like… together?” Theo stumbled over his words nervously, “I know it’s different because I’m not-”

“No.” Liam quickly said, eyes widening when he realized how harsh it may have sounded. “I don’t mean no as in _no._ I just mean, I understand. You don’t have to explain anything.”

Theo nodded, looking down at his hands. Liam realized he hadn’t actually answered the question, so he grabbed Theo’s hands gently.

“I don’t care that you’re not out yet. I don’t care if you want to keep it quiet. I care about you and that’s all that I’m worried about.”

“I care about you too. And I’m working on it, I _promise_.” Theo said, “It’s just hard sometimes.”

“I know. Take your time, I’m not rushing you.” Liam replied, pulling Theo into a hug.

“So, does this mean you’re my boyfriend?” Theo asked, hopeful.

“I think so.” Liam nodded.

Theo smiled and kissed Liam on the cheek this time. Smiling bright at Liam who furrowed his brows at the cheek action. Liam cupped Theo’s cheek and kissed him slowly and more passionately than he had ever kissed anyone before.

“Wow.” Theo said, letting out a shaky breath. “What was that for?”

Liam smiled and shook his head, “For bringing flowers for my mom.”

“So, what you’re saying is, that I earned major brownie points for being nice?” Theo asked.

“Yes.” Liam replied.

“Good to know.” Theo smiled, “And what if I didn’t bring her flowers?”

“Then I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

“Which time?” Theo smirked.

Liam knocked his shoulder into Theo’s, “Don’t be so conceited.” Liam smiled.

“So, how much does Brett know? I mean, I know he’s your best friend, but if you wanted to keep everything quiet for now, I can do that.”

Theo laughed and shook his head, “Brett knows pretty much everything. And he’s the reason I had the ‘courage’ to ask you out.” Liam watched as Theo put air quotes with the word courage.

“What do you mean?” Liam pondered.

“He said if I didn’t ask you out soon, that he would have done it for me and I don’t know about you, but I could live without that.” Theo replied.

Liam burst out laughing, “Yeah, I don’t even want to imagine that happening. Tell him he doesn’t have to traumatize all three of us now.”

“I don’t care if your friends know.” Theo said. “The way Mason and Corey grin at me kind of gives me an idea of them knowing.”

“Mason and Corey are the kings of speculation.” Liam laughed, “I haven’t told them anything directly. Mason knew you were coming for dinner but like he doesn’t know anything from the arcade night and Nolan is the type of person who tries to mind his own business.”

“It’s okay.” Theo soothed. “It’s good for them to know. We don’t have to hide it from our friends, they wouldn’t be very good friends if we did.”

Liam nodded his head, still surprised that Brett wasn’t such a dick about his best friend liking someone he presumably considers an enemy.

“Sorry that we haven’t gotten around to watching a movie.” Liam said, frowning.

“It’s okay.” Theo laughed, “I just like spending time with you.”

Liam couldn’t fight the dumb grin that traced along his lips, he tried biting it to keep it away but that did nothing but make him more interesting to Theo in that moment.

Theo’s hand found his face again, pulling him closer. “You _really_ need to stop doing that.” He said, voice deeper than usual. Liam’s cheeks heated up considerably.

“I’ll take my chances.” Liam whispered, kissing Theo once again. He could feel the smirk drift from Theo’s lips as he kissed back.

They took some to get to know each other a little bit more, Liam telling Theo about his real dad while Theo told him how both of his parents were pretty absent in his and his sister’s lives, Liam was shocked to find that Theo had a nanny up until he was twelve and how she gave him an old beat up copy of “Where the Wild Things Are” and how he cried for three days when it got destroyed.

“It was my favorite thing in the world,” Theo said, shaking his head. “I know it sounds kind of dumb now, but I loved that book.”

He had tried playing it off with a laugh, but Liam knew better. He knew how much the book had to have meant to him for him to have told him about it.

“It’s not dumb,” Liam shook his head, “Not if it made you happy.”

Theo smiled at him and brought their lips together again. Liam lost track of how long they stayed like that, enjoying each other’s company and holding onto each other. Their movie idea had gone completely ignored as Theo left around ten o’clock. They made sure to reschedule it soon.

“Text me when you’re home?” Liam asked.

“Definitely.” Theo nodded before kissing Liam’s forehead and walking off to his truck.

Liam found the motion considerably overwhelming. It made his heart flutter in his chest. No one had kissed his forehead before, at least no one that wasn’t family. He closed the door behind him and let out the breath he was holding.

When he finally got the “home safe” text from Theo, he texted back that he was glad before he drifted off into a peaceful, happy sleep with nothing but green-blue eyes on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!! Well there it is.  
> Sorry for the long wait but now that this chapter is knocked out of the way, things should be picking up :) there's a lot planned for this and reading through all that I have written makes me eager to keep this going!! 
> 
> Once again, don't hesitate to comment and point out any errors you may find. I have barely taken the time to look over it lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Comments and kudos make my day!! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leading up to Winter Break in Beacon Hills :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a time jump here but I hope it's okay!!! :)
> 
> Okay, so it's been a couple of months, I'm sorry. I've been dreading over this for a while because my brain likes to fight me but I hope you enjoy it!! 
> 
> And like, I know I say this every time but there will be an update soon because this chapter is was split into two parts! 
> 
> Shout out to Janna for reading over this and listening to me whine.. wouldn't be posting if it wasn't for her so THANK YOU SO MUCH!
> 
> Please let me know if you see any mistakes, I greatly appreciate it. 💜💜💜

Before Liam knew it, winter break at Beacon Hills high school was upon them. All he had to do was get through this week of tests, and he would be fine. He was ready for the longer break considering the one they got for Thanksgiving was only five days and not nearly enough time to spend it with family and Theo for his birthday. Currently, Liam was dreading the thought of his relatives flocking to his house for winter break, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to put up with, he knew how much it meant for his mother to have the family come in now that they had the space.

Liam quickly learned that he was correct in his assumption of his street being the kind to decorate during the holidays and he prided himself in having the spookiest looking house during Halloween. He was currently decorating for Christmas and was draping lights over the roof while his mother stood in the front yard directing him. Why she insisted on having their house look like giant gingerbread house, he would never understand. He just did as he was told to keep her happy.

After he almost got his right foot tangled in the lights and slipped on the ladder, he was finally safe and back on the ground. His mother waited patiently for him make his way down and for David to pull up from work before she plugged the lights in. Jenna jumped for joy after all the lights worked. Liam silently did as well, he didn’t want to have to climb all the way back up to fix them, not when he and Theo had a study date.

He and Theo had spent a lot of time together lately, especially since they both needed help with their exams. Theo helped Liam study for his Biology exam and Liam helped Theo brush up on his History notes. While a couple of their study sessions did take place at Theo’s house, most of them occurred at Liam’s and he had noticed how relaxed and more comfortable Theo had been when he wasn’t home, kind of like now.

Liam hadn’t noticed when Theo fell asleep, he was too busy vocalizing his History notes to notice the boy drift off. His shoulder was leaning against Liam’s and his head bowed in a way that could not have been comfortable. Even so, Liam realized how peaceful he looked. He closed his book, setting it aside before he took Theo’s to do the same, regretting it instantly when Theo stirred, eyes fluttering open. Someone must be a light sleeper.

“I didn’t want to wake you.” Liam whispered.

Theo laughed, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Does history really bore you that much?” Liam smiled.

“No,” Theo shook his head, “It was listening to your voice.”

“Are you saying my voice is boring?” Liam accused, laughing when he saw Theo’s expression.

His eyes widened, “No! I just mean your voice is soothing.”

“I’m just messing with you.” Liam replied, “Besides, you looked cute when you were sleeping.”

Liam had mumbled the last part, but Theo heard him anyway and had sat up straighter to look at Liam.

“I was not cute.” He replied.

“You totally were.” Liam grinned, ignoring eye contact.

“No, I wasn’t.” Theo said, “I’m not cute.”

Liam turned to look at him, trying his best to fight another grin. “Okay, fine. You’re not cute.”

“Thank you.” Theo said, stubbornly. “Besides, you’re the cute one.”

Liam laughed suddenly, “Oh really? How come I’m allowed to be cute but you’re not?”

“Because I’m the hot one.” He smirked.

“Are you saying that I’m not hot?” Liam pouted before biting his lip.

Theo was full on staring at him, watching him with intense eyes before his lip curled up at the side ever so slightly, “You’re handsome, Liam.”

Liam felt his cheeks heat up. He’s never been called handsome before. Theo being the one to tell him that made him feel even more self-conscious. He focused his eyes onto his lap, feeling Theo’s eyes watching him.

Theo’s hand found it’s place on Liam’s cheek, turning his head towards him. “Don’t do that, don’t tell yourself otherwise. Don’t let your mind trick you into thinking that you’re anything but good looking.” Liam looked into Theo’s eyes, his green filled with such truthfulness and affection that Liam felt his heartbeat pick up.

He nodded at Theo, bringing his hand to rest on top of his, he wasn’t sure what he should say back. He should definitely let Theo know that he found him even more handsome, but he didn’t get a chance. Theo’s lips were on his quickly. This kiss was laced with adoration, letting Liam fully understand how much Theo appreciated him.

Liam’s hand found Theo’s neck, his finger’s playing with the baby hairs aligned there. Liam broke away momentarily to work his way to the other side of Theo’s neck, leaving kisses across his jaw on the way. He could feel the way Theo shuddered once his lips attached to his neck, the gasp that left his lips brought Liam back to the surface.

Theo stared at him, mouth gaping and eyes wild. He wasted no time in joining their mouths before following Liam’s motion and placing his lips on Liam’s neck this time. He made his way down to the neckline on his shirt, Liam gasped and wiggled around as he felt Theo’s tongue slide along his neck. Liam ran his fingers through Theo’s hair as he went to work on the dip between Liam’s shoulder and neck.

Once he was pleased with his mark, he smirked at Liam, finding his lips once again. Liam was swimming. His mind buzzing over the fact that Theo left a presumably large mark on him. It was the most affection other than kissing and kind words that they had ever shown each other. It felt good. It felt right.

They were interrupted by the sound of Jenna calling from downstairs, letting them know that dinner would be ready shortly. They broke apart, breathing heavily against each other. Liam swallowed deeply before looking Theo in the eyes, neither one of them entirely knowing what to say.

Theo finally smiled and kissed Liam once more before sliding off the other side of the bed. He stretched his body, his arms reaching above his head. Liam’s cheeks heated once again as Theo’s shirt rose up but the sight on the boy’s back had him asking questions,

“What’s that?” Liam asked, pointing a long Theo’s back.

Theo’s eyes snapped to his before he shrugged, “I was helping Brett practice with lacrosse.”

“The season’s over.” Liam replied, standing from the bed and moving closer to his boyfriend.

“You know how asinine he gets over things.” Theo replied.

“Well, could you tell him to take it easy on you, or at least give you some pads?” Liam asked, standing in front of him, “He doesn’t have to be such a dick, you don’t even play.”

Theo smiled at him and grabbed his hand quickly, “Come on. Don’t want to keep your mom waiting.”

Liam grabbed his hand, pulling him back smoothly, and affectively kissing Theo to let him know that he’s serious.

“Tell him next time, I’m kicking his ass.” Liam replied. Theo smiled down at him and nodded his head. He placed a kiss on Liam’s forehead before pulling him along and towards the stairs.

Liam still wasn’t over the fact that Theo kisses him on the forehead, even though he’s done it numerous times already. Deep down, he thinks its Theo’s way of poking fun at being taller. Even if it’s only by an inch or two. Regardless of reason, Liam lets him do it because holy shit, it’s so damn sexy.

Liam often wonders what good things he did in a former life to earn such an amazing woman for a mother in this one. The way she treats Theo makes him happy. She understands him and maybe that’s what he needs. Liam knew he didn’t have that at home. He didn’t have the support from his family in something as mundane as homework, so Liam knew just how much Theo was struggling, hiding who he was from people who didn’t understand him but should. Even Theo's relationship with his sister seems strained. Liam learned pretty quickly that she only cares about herself and her image. That’s why there was always another party at the Raeken house.

So now, watching his mother treating Theo like one of her own brought a warmth to his heart. Something he never fully understood before. This warmth being the same he felt around his parents when they’re together. Liam wasn’t aware of when this strong feeling towards Theo had snuck up on him, but he knew he didn’t want to lose it.

He fell hard for Theo. Hard and fast. He knows it, his mother knows it, even Mason knows it. Yes, Liam Dunbar might be in love with Theo Raeken. As much as it kills him to not share with his boyfriend his blistering love, he knows that it’s not something he can just go around shouting. It's too soon and he knows Theo doesn’t feel the same way. Theo can’t feel the same way, not for him.

His thoughts get drowned out by the sound of his boyfriend’s and mother’s shared laughter. Liam’s parent did in fact induct Theo into family game nights. The way Theo’s face or eyes lit up every time he got excited about him and Jenna winning against Liam and David made him smile fondly at the boy. Liam really did have it bad.

“It’s such a shame you won’t be in town for Christmas.” Jenna said, shaking her head sadly. “We were hoping you’d be here for the party.”

Liam spoke before he could, “Nope. He’d rather leave me alone with Brett.” Theo rolled his eyes at him.

“I won’t be gone long. We’re visiting my grandma since she can’t travel this year.” Theo replied.

“I know. I’m only joking.” Liam smirked. “It does suck that I’ll be alone with Brett though.”

“Stop saying that.” Jenna scolded, “Don’t make the boy feel bad. Mason will be here.”

Liam huffed, “I’m beginning to think you like Theo more than you like me.”

Jenna sighed, “Well….”

“Mom!” Liam cried while Jenna and Theo laughed at him… together. The ultimate betrayal. Liam couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy the torment, though. He loved that they were able to get along and he loved that Theo was comfortable around her. Around them.

Liam was lost in his thoughts again, Theo elbowing him out of his reverie and then wrapping his arm around his shoulders, letting his fingers trace gently over the mark he had left. Still tender, the memories of it happening swirled into Liam’s mind and he could feel his pulse rising. He was thankful that his shirt covered the spot Theo left earlier. He didn’t want his mother to see it and start asking the embarrassing questions he knew she would.

“Well, I should be heading home soon.” Theo said, “Got one last test in the morning before break.”

“Good luck, sweetie.” Jenna smiled, patting his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Liam shook his head and made his way upstairs, Theo chuckling before following him up to get his stuff.

“You’re so jealous.” Theo laughed, “Your mom loves me.”

It pained Liam not to tell Theo that she’s not the only one.

“She may even love me more than she loves you.” Theo teased as he entered the room, Liam was quick to shut the door behind him before snaking his arms around Theo’s neck.

“True,” Liam smiled, “But you’re mine.”

“Yours?” Theo asked, lowly.

“Mhmm. You see, I can do this.” Liam whispered before kissing Theo’s lips sweetly.

“And this,” He said as he kissed both of Theo’s cheeks.

“And the best part,”

Liam finished off by kissing at Theo’s neck softly, hearing the boy hum with content.

“Believe me, I’m glad she doesn’t do that.” Theo laughed lightly, turning them around so that Liam was pressed up against the wall.

“It wouldn’t have the same effect you do.” He smirked, watching as Liam bit his lip in contemplation.

Liam had never realized when he did it, until Theo pointed it out. It’s not like Liam ever intended to do it, as it was more of a nervous tick. Theo had caught him doing it many times while they were surrounded by a group of other students or his parents and he been assured that Liam would never use it against him on purpose.

Theo’s thumb found its way to Liam’s lips and smiled fondly before he pressed their lips together once again. Liam’s hands found their way to Theo’s hips, which before now was uncharted territory. He counted it as a win when Theo didn’t pull back. He ran his fingers up Theo’s body, earning a small grunt when he reached his ribs, he couldn’t help but pull away.

“Holy shit, are you ticklish?” Liam asked, smirking.

“No.” Theo quickly said. Liam nodded his head before smiling mischievously. Theo’s eyes widened, “Don’t do it.”

Liam put his hands up in surrender, pushing away from the wall slightly before his hands shot their way back to Theo, attacking his ribs. The squeal Theo let out had Liam bursting with laughter.

“Stop, stop, stop.” Theo ushered between small fits of laughter. “It’s not funny.”

He grabbed ahold of Liam’s hands, pressing him back against the wall as he held them captive. Liam’s eyes widened as he met Theo’s. Liam couldn’t remember a time before he could make it through the day without seeing or thinking about those eyes. The beautiful shade of green with hazel swirls that were sometimes gray or turned a little blue. He was engrossed with the changes in perfection.

Theo rested his forehead against Liam’s, “I’m sorry.” Liam smiled.

Theo smiled cutely at him, “It’s okay.” He leaned up and kissed Liam’s forehead again before letting him go. Liam closed his eyes at the gesture, never able to get enough of it.

“It’s getting late.” Theo mumbled, “I should get home.”

“Yeah,” Liam pouted. “I’ll see you tomorrow before you leave.”

Theo was leaving to visit his grandmother when he was done with his last test, getting to leave school early as well.

“Don’t pout, Liam. We’ll see each other at New Year’s.” Theo smiled.

“But that’s next year.” He reprimanded. Theo shook his head at him.

“You’ll be okay.” He replied, smiling, “You’ll get your Christmas present then.” 

“We said no gifts.” Liam said stubbornly.

“Oh, really?” Theo smirked, “I guess Mason was talking about some other Liam buying me a present then.”

“I’m going to kill him.” Liam sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, fine. I got you a gift.”

Theo laughed at him, shaking his head as well. "You can’t kill him, he helped me with your gift.”

Liam’s eyes widened in hopes that Mason hadn’t suggested anything explicit as he did towards gift ideas when he had approached him.

“Don’t worry," Theo smirked, turning away to grab his notebook and place it in his bag. "I only half listened to him.”

“Although, I was unsure if I should get Jenna and David something, they’ve been so nice to me. I ended up getting them a gift card for Delmont’s. Do you think they’ll like it?”

“They’ll love it.” Liam smiled, heart jumping at the idea that he even thought to get them something, “You’re even outshining me in their gift.”

Theo laughed, “You can’t just put a bow on your head and sit next to the tree, Liam.”

Liam could feel his cheeks turn red at that, “How the hell do you know about that?”

“Your mom told me.” Theo grinned, poking at Liam’s cheek, causing him to groan.

“I was eight years old and it was our first Christmas as a family.”

“It’s adorable.” Theo replied.

“I’m not adorable.” Liam mumbled.

“We’re not doing this again.” Theo said, placing his hands on Liam’s shoulders. “Take a good look at yourself, you’re all of the above.”

“Well, so are you.” Liam blurted, earning a laugh from Theo’s throat.

“You flatter me.” He smiled, kissing Liam before opening the bedroom door. “See you tomorrow.”

They said their goodbyes and Liam watched from the front door as Theo left in his truck, he stopped by the mirror in the hallway leading to the stairs.

Take a good look at yourself.

He doesn’t like what he sees. He shook his head and headed up to his bedroom, grabbing his phone to text Mason.

 

* * *

 

**Mason**

_”Please tell me you didn’t suggest Theo to give me the same thing you suggested to me for Christmas.” 9:53 PM_

**_“All I’m saying is that it’s not a bad idea.” – 9:54 PM_ **

_“MASON!!!!”_

_“You can’t just go around saying things like that.” – 9:54 PM_

**_“It’s not a big deal, dude.” – 9:55 PM_ **

_“It is when we haven’t even talked about it!!! You can’t just say, ‘Merry Christmas, let me suck your dick.’ That’s not a good gift!!!!!” – 9:58 PM_

**_“It’s a GREAT gift!” – 10:01 PM_ **

_“You’re ridiculous.” – 10:02 PM_

_**“He did get you a good gift though.” 10:04 PM** _

**_“It’s something you’ll really enjoy… playing…with.” – 10:05 PM_ **

_“MASON” – 10:06 PM_

**_“Okay, relax. I’m joking.” 10:08 PM_ **

**_“So, you’re not there yet, it’s okay. You really haven’t talked about it?” 10:10 PM_ **

**_“Have you talked about anything????” 10:15 PM_ **

**_“DUDE!” 10:19 PM_ **

_“Sorry. And no, we haven’t. I’m not rushing anything, we haven’t been together that long and it’s still new for him. I told him I wasn’t going to rush him and that’s how its going to stay.” – 10:22 PM_

**_“Well, when anything does happen, you have to tell me. And I mean EVERYTHING. Corey and I have a bet on how big it is.” – 10:24 PM_ **

_“ARE YOU SERIOUS? I can’t believe this.” – 10:25 PM_

_“I need new friends.” – 10:25 PM_

**_“Don’t act like you’re not dying to know. If it makes you feel any better, we also made a bet that yours was bigger, y’know. That’s what friends do.” – 10:30 PM_ **

_“It doesn’t make me feel any better, you guys are truly insane.” – 10:31 PM_

_"Is this really what you two talk about as a couple?" - 10:31 PM_

* * *

**Theo**

**_“Hey, almost fell asleep and forgot to text you. Just letting you know I got home okay 😊” – 10:32 PM_ **

_“I’m glad! I hope you sleep well 😊” – 10:32 PM_

**_“Right back at you, handsome😊” – 10:36 PM_ **

_"I will fight you." - 10:37 PM_

_" **I'm too tired, I'd probably just let you win."  - 10:38 PM**_

**_"But you wouldn't do anything anyway." - 10:40 PM_ **

_"You're right. I wouldn't." - 10:40 PM_

_"I'll see you in the mornin, though. Goodnight." - 10:41 PM_

 

_**"Goodnight, Liam."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a cut off, I know but the second half will be uploaded soon :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY. So it's currently four am and there is a high possibility that there are a lot of mistakes in this chapter and I am aware that I am rambling BUT if you see any errors, please do not hesistate to let me know!!! I appreciate it! :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

Liam and Theo were choosing to say their goodbyes during lunch, taking advantage of the secluded hallways to have some privacy. The school was almost empty considering it was the last day before winter break, most people came to take their exams and then went on back home. They stood together, Theo with his back against his locker and Liam with his face in Theo’s neck.

“Don’t miss me too much.” Theo mumbled in Liam’s ear, running his hand down Liam’s back and causing a chill to go down his spine.

“I’ll miss you as much as I want.” He replied, earning a laugh from Theo before the boy nudged him away to look at him.

“I know you will.” He grinned, “I’ll miss you too.”

“I’m still mad about being left with Brett.” Liam mumbled. Theo leaving for his grandmother’s still had Liam feeling a little sad about not getting to spend much time with him during their break, but he knew that Theo had been looking forward to seeing the woman for a while and truthfully, he was happy for him.

“You’ll be fine, you’ll have Mason.” Theo reminded him, “I’ll just be stuck with all family and only the sweet memory of my friends to hold me over.” He shook his head and sighed.

“Well that was extremely dramatic.” Liam said, fighting a smile. 

“A for effort?” Theo smirked.

“I wouldn’t say it was that good.”

“You pain me.”

“You’ll live.” Liam said, kissing him deeply.

“Well, I will now.” He said smirking as they broke apart. Theo let his hands travel down Liam’s back before speaking, “I gotta go.” He left a quick kiss on Liam’s lips before letting go. “I’ll text you.”

“Have a good Christmas.” Liam smiled.

“You too.” Theo replied, walking towards the office to get himself signed out. Liam sighed before going to meet his friends in the cafeteria, he still had his Biology test to get through before he’s done and free for break. 

Reaching the cafeteria, he was surprised to find Brett sitting with his friends.

“Greetings, lover boy.” Brett teased as he sat down.

“So nice of you to detach your lips from Theo’s to join us.” Mason added while Corey laughed and smiled between the three of them.

“You’re all a bunch of dicks.” Liam groaned as the boys laughed.

“Hey!” Nolan cried.

“Except for Nolan, I’m really glad you’re here buddy.” Liam grinned.

Brett’s eyes flicked to Nolan as he smiled at Liam’s words. A small grin forming on his lips. He shook it off before anyone could see it, but Liam had caught it. They really needed to get their shit together. They were clearly both into each other, but it’s like they had no clue the other liked them back. It made Liam feel dizzy.

“Why are you sitting over here, Brett?” Liam sneered.

“I can’t sit with my friends?” He asked.

“You’d have to be our friend, first…” Liam countered.

“Oh, come on. We’re the best of friends, right guys?”

The boys were quiet, Nolan turning a shade of crimson. Liam kind of knew how the boy felt, Mason had been hesitant when it came to Theo and Liam regretted saying anything to Brett in that moment. 

“Alright, fine. I can’t stomach the thought of sitting with those people without Theo or Tara.” He said, rolling his eyes. “And you guys aren’t that bad.”

Liam wanted to ask if it was really because Nolan wasn’t so bad, but he didn’t.

“Then why sit with them at all?” Corey asked.

“Because it’s what we do.” He shrugged, before looking back to Liam, “Anyway, I can’t wait for our little bonding experience.”

Mason almost choked on his juice and Corey was quick to pat him on the back to make sure his boyfriend was okay.

Liam grimaced, “Do you have to make everything dirty?” Corey and Brett laughed as Mason composed himself and muttered that he was fine. 

“I don’t get it.” Nolan said, eyebrows furrowed. Liam shook his head with a frown, leaning in to whisper what got the boys so worked up.

Nolan’s eyes widened, and his cheeks turned red as Liam pulled away.

“Oh.” Was all he said as he looked down and focused on his food, missing the way Brett smirked at him.

Liam kicked his shin under the table, causing him to jump slightly and look at him with a glare. Liam glared back at him and shook his head. Nolan was entirely too innocent for his own good some times. Brett wasn’t innocent, no matter how convincing his smile was. Mason had told Liam about his escapades at the night club down town. With a name like Sinema and Brett being a regular, not much was left to the imagination.

“I was talking about the Christmas party our parents are dragging us to.” Brett corrected, finally deciding to be a decent person for once. Liam knew it was only for Nolan’s benefit, and possibly an unbruised shin.

“Is Mason the only one going to be joining us?” He asked, glancing from Corey and Nolan.

“I can’t make it.” Corey replied. Liam had already invited them but like Theo, Corey had family to deal with.

Brett turned his attention to Nolan, who was finally back to his normal skin tone.

“Oh, uh.. I’m not sure. Yet.” He answered, looking from Brett to Liam.

“Well, I hope to see you there, freckles.” Brett smirked. Liam stretched his leg out to kick him again but the bell rang, signaling the lunch period to be over.

* * *

 

**Theo**

_**“** **Good luck on your Bio test. You’ll do great 😊” – 11:55 AM** _

_“I’m heading to class now… you already on the road? Should you be texting?” 12:00 PM_

_“ **Tara is driving there, I’m driving back. Just thought I would play the role of supportive boyfriend but…”**_

**_“I can see when I’m not wanted.” – 12:03 PM_ **

_“You are EXTREMELY wanted. I was just worried about your safety!!!!” 12:03 PM_

* * *

 

“Phones must be turned off and put away as the exam is now being passed out.” Mrs. Finch’s sharp tone called out, particularly glaring at Liam. He did as instructed, not wanting to miss Theo’s reply but also not wanting to feel Mrs. Finch’s daggers digging into him.

He wasn’t too worried about the test, he had studied hard for it as usual. He did well on the last one Theo helped him study for, so he was pretty confident in nailing this one. And truthfully, he really did owe it to Theo for making him stick to it.

*

It took him forty-five very long and worrisome minutes to finish his exam. He took his time with it, hoping that he did well. As he glanced around, he was relieved in knowing that he wasn’t the last person to get finished. It had made him feel a lot better, only he frowned when he found that Corey was still working on his test while Mason and Nolan had already left.

Mrs. Finch surprisingly gave a nice smile as he turned his test in and once he was out in the hallway. he turned his phone back on. He smiled when he saw he had messages from Theo and was quick to open them.

“ _ **So, you want me?”**_

_**“😉” – 12:10 PM** _

Liam felt like his heart was doing somersaults and could feel his cheeks grow red. He was absolutely sure he resembled a tomato in that moment. They hadn’t talked about anything even resembling intercourse. He mentally scolded himself for even thinking of using that word as the memories of the previous night flooded his mind once again, the mark on his shoulder pulsed as heat ran through him. Theo had done that. Did that mean that he wanted to at least talk about it?

To be honest, he had thought about it. He had wanted to bring it up before. He’s a teenage boy, well aware of urges and he knew that Theo would have been feeling things as well, but he didn’t want to push things. He didn’t want to make him uncomfortable in the slightest.

Liam acknowledged that the situation could turn bad if he made things awkward but he also knew that ignoring the situation could also turn bad. He decided to just go with the flow of their original conversation.

“ _Sorry, test ran longer than I thought. I think I did good though, so thank you for that.”_

_“And yes. Always. 😊” 12:56 PM_

_“😊” –  12:57 PM_

The rest of the day went by in a blur for Liam. Grades would be posted that night or the next before the term was officially over, so he wouldn’t know how well he did on his test until it got posted. As usual, the only classes he was worried about were his math and biology.

*

The next morning, Liam had woken up to find the most adorable photo from Theo. His bright smile stretched across his face as he was wearing a Santa’s hat and a cringe festive sweater, but of course he had made it work. Liam gushed at the photo for entirely too long and just had to show his mother. Jenna adored Theo and he knew that she was deeply happy that he made his way into their lives.

“Such a shame he couldn’t make it.” She said, again.

“I know.” Liam pouted as he helped set up food trays for the party she insisted on having.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Jenna smiled.

Liam shrugged, “I guess.”

“Liam.” Jenna sighed.

“Okay, fine. Yes. I really really like him.” Liam said, defeated. He didn’t want to use the word love just yet. Not out loud.

“I don’t need to warn you about protection, do I?”

“Oh my god mom, no.” Liam sputtered.

“Liam, it’s always best to be safe.” She said.

“No, okay! We haven’t done anything, we haven’t even talked about it.”

“You haven’t talked about it?”

“Oh my god you’re just as bad as Mason.” Liam groaned.

“Well, I have a right to be sweetie. I just want to make sure you’re being safe.”

“I know, mom. I get it.” Liam mumbled. “This isn’t the conversation I want to be having with you.” 

Jenna laughed, “Liam, this is exactly the conversation we need to have.”

“How about not today?” He begged, “Or you know, ever.” 

“You don’t need to be embarrassed over anything, Liam. Now come on, let’s get this finished before people start to arrive. Chelsea was able to make it.”

Liam would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see at least some of his family members. Chelsea was his only cousin on his dad’s side. His real dad. They had been close growing up, being only a couple of months apart. It had been a while since they had last seen each other, so Liam’s mood picked up impeccably. Chelsea would be arriving with her mother, that much Liam had known. Their moms were friends in high school and college and had paired up with brothers. While Liam’s father walked out on them, Chelsea’s had died in a car accident when they were ten.

At around five that evening, the first of the guests had started arriving. Mason and his parents were of course among the first arrivals, to which Liam was grateful. Brett, his sister (to which Liam recognized from being the girl who was dancing with Nolan) and their parents had shown up around six. Liam smirked at the image of Brett being made to arrive with pie in his hands to give to Liam’s mother. Liam reveled in the idea of Brett’s mother making him do embarrassing things.

Liam had sent Theo a photo of himself pouting and standing underneath mistletoe with a message saying, “Wish you were here.” Theo replied almost instantly letting Liam know how much he agreed.

“Okay, so spill. What did Theo get me for Christmas?” Liam chided, poking at Mason.

Mason shook his head, “I can’t do that.”

“But you’re my best friend.” Liam reminded him.

Mason shrugged, “Eh, still not telling.”

“Fine.” Liam pouted.

“If you two would have just listened to my suggestions, you wouldn’t be in this mess of not knowing.” Mason laughed.

“Can we not talk about this with Brett being so close?” Liam whispered.

“Oh, come on, he knows what a blow job is.” Mason laughed.

“Just stop.” Liam pleaded.

He would much rather avoid that awkward situation for as long as possible. Liam didn’t want Brett knowing anything about Mason’s antics and he was sure Brett didn’t want to hear about his best friends’ possible sexual endeavors.  

“LIAAAAAAM?” A voice sang as someone cut through the crowd of people. Liam looked up to find his cousin Chelsea darting through the people to make her way over to him.

“Chelly bean!” Liam yelled, meeting her hug.

“Really? That’s how its going to be, Li Bear?”

“Not so loud!” Liam hushed.

“Li Bear? Oh, shit! I forgot about that.” A voice came, Liam scowled as he was met with Brett’s laughter.

“Brett Talbot? Is that you?” Chelsea asked, “You’ve grown like two feet since I last saw you.”

“It wasn’t that much.” Brett said, rolling his eyes.

“You used to be shorter than Liam.” She deadpanned, looking past Liam’s shoulder, “Is that Mason?”

She took off, running quickly over to where Liam had left him on the couch. Mason looked shocked before a sudden realization appeared across his face.

“Did your dad show up?” Brett asked, hesitantly he settled in place next to Liam.

“Not in the last twelve years.” Liam retorted.

“Uh, okay.. Sorry.” Brett said, holding his hands up in surrender.

“It’s whatever.” Liam shrugged.

“Oh my god.” Chelsea squealed, causing the two boys to look at her. She pointed above them. Mistletoe hung above their heads. Liam had forgotten about all spots his mother had mischievously hung them.

Liam and Brett’s eyes met with mirrored wideness. “Come on, you have to do it!” Chelsea cheered.

Liam shook his head quickly, opening his mouth and ready to argue but Mason grabbed his arm, quickly dragging him away and leaving Nolan in his place. Liam wasn’t even sure when the boy had arrived.

“Mason!” Nolan exasperated, looking like a deer in the headlights.

“It needs to happen, Nolan.” Mason sung, “It’s tradition and I will LIVE to see you two lip lock at least once! Now have at it.”

Nolan’s cheeks flared red as he slowly made his eyes meet Brett’s. Brett smiled, leaning down to place a haste kiss to Nolan’s lips.

“You can do better than that!” Mason yelled, earning Liam’s elbow to his gut.

Nolan ran off quickly. “Now look what you did.” Liam said, smacking Mason’s arm and heading to leave to find Nolan.

“No, I’ll go.” Mason said, “I should apologize.”

Liam nodded his head and followed Brett to the drinks table, déjà vu weighing down on him. Brett poured himself a helping of the sherbet punch his mother had mixed earlier, taking a sip before Liam spoke.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure the eggnog is spiked.” He tried.

Brett feigned a smirked and shook his head slightly, mood depleting “I don’t get it. Why doesn’t he like me?”

Liam’s eyes widened. Was this really Brett freaking Talbot worrying over someone not liking him?

“You’re kidding, right?” Liam laughed, “Have you ever noticed his sketches in art? I hardly like you but even I know those are your hands he’s always working on.”

Brett looked down at him, tilting his head slightly.

“It’s the scar on you’re left knuckle. Pretty easy to figure it out.” Liam shrugged, “Who else has a scar in the shape of a fork’s four points?”

“With you around, probably a lot of people.” Brett laughed.

Liam rolled his eyes, so maybe they shouldn’t have been wrestling with forks in their hands, but Brett was the one to initiate it. “Look, he does like you. He just doesn’t know you like him, you should try talking to him because playing hard to get kind of goes over his head.”

“I’m not you or Theo. You make it look so easy.” Brett replied, looking around the room.

“You think it’s easy? Trust me, it’s not.” Liam said, “But we’re making it work because we want to be together.” 

Brett stared at him for a moment before nodding his head, “You’re a good friend, Liam.”

“That was surprisingly nice of you.” Liam smiled.

“Yeah, well.” Brett shrugged, “I may have had too much eggnog earlier.”

Liam rolled his eyes and pushed Brett’s shoulder. “You’re an ass.” 

“Liam, darling.” Jenna spoke, smiling at him and Brett. “I need you two to come with me.”

Liam and Brett made eye contact before shrugging and following after her. They followed her back into the living room where Mason, Chelsea, and a flushed Nolan were waiting for them.

“It’s been so long since we had all the kids together, we need a photo!” Jenna gushed.

Liam and Brett started backing away before Jenna stopped them.

“Nope! You’re not going anywhere.”

“Mom.” Liam groaned.

“I found it!” Mason’s mother smiled, holding up her phone to show off a picture of them when they were little. Brett, Chelsea, Liam, and Mason were all seated on a couch, smiles reaching their eyes as they posed for the camera, their arms slung over each other’s shoulders.

“You kids were so cute.” Mrs. Talbot smiled.

“Now sit.” Jenna said, smiling in the process.

“Mom, how much eggnog have you had?” Liam scolded.

“Liam, do not chastise me. Sit.” She warned. “We’re recreating the photo.”

“How sentimental.” Brett gritted.

“Oh, come on.” Chelsea laughed, “It’s not that bad.”

They sat in the same order as the original photo, bright smiles on their cheeks. Once the photo was taken, Mason and Liam both mumbled “moms” under their breath.

“Okay, Nolan, you get in this one.” Jenna smiled.

“There’s... no room.” He concluded.

“We’ll make room, buddy.” Mason shouted.

Nolan squeezed himself between Brett and Chelsea, since that was the only place that was made available. Jenna snapped the photo before Liam requested one more photo, much to the others dismay.

He stood up and nearly jumped on the others, laying himself across their laps. Jenna snapped the photo as they all had wide smiles or were in the process of laughing.

“Okay, Liam. It’s time for us to gather around the piano.” Jenna urged.

“Mom, no!” He groaned, ready for a protest.

“We had to take the photo, you have to play the piano!” Chelsea laughed. “Come on, it’s been a while since I heard you.”

 “Yeah, Liam.” Brett smirked.

“Guys, no.” Liam said, shaking his head.

“Liam, it’s Christmas.”

“Yeah, come on Liam. I’d like to see it.”

“Nolan!” Liam gasped.

“You’re out numbered kiddo, might as well do it before they force you.” David laughed, patting him on the shoulder fondly.

Liam felt defeated as he pouted his way to the piano, his traitorous friends and family following behind him. Liam wasn’t used to having this big of an audience, he didn’t even know majority of the people here. His mother must have invited the whole neighborhood.

“Any request?” Liam asked, regrettably.

“Silent night!” Someone said quickly. Liam shrugged his shoulders and started playing, he thought he might as well get it over with.

Liam played a few more songs, some people joining in to sing along. When he was in the midst of playing “Carol of the Bells”, Brett came up to him with a teasing smirk and phone in hand.

“Come on, Liam. Give us a smile!” Brett taunted.

Liam frowned deeply and held up a middle finger, making sure his other hand was still attempting to play.

“Oooh, the talent!” Brett teased, laughing and finally ending the video.

After his mother forced him to take photos and made him play the piano, Liam had finally gotten away to have some time to himself. The party was winding down and people were making their way rounds to say goodbye to one another as he made his way up to his bedroom. His friends had left to go home about an hour ago. 

* * *

 

**Theo**

“ ** _It’s not nice to flip people off, Liam.” –  9:34 PM_**

**_“It’s Christmas!” –  9:34 PM_ **

**_“Santa is leaving coal in your stocking tonight.” –  9:36 PM_ **

_“What are you talking about???” – 10:06 PM_

_“ **Brett sent me a video of you playing the piano. Obscene hand gestures aren’t very festive, Li Bear.” –  10:08 PM**_

_“That’s it. I’m going to kill him.” – 10:08 PM_

_“ **Ah, there’s the holiday spirit. 😊” – 10:10 PM**_

_“Wish you could have been there.” – 10:11 PM_

_“ **From the pics I saw posted on facebook, it looked fun.” – 10:12 PM**_

* * *

Liam opened up his facebook app to be met with photos of the night. His mother had uploaded the photo she made him and his friends take side by side of the original photo from when they were younger, making sure to gush over how grown up everyone was and tagging everyone in it as well. She also made sure to upload the one where Liam had jumped across everyone’s laps. “Never a dull moment with this boy.” The caption had read, Theo left a comment saying how much he had agreed. The next photo made him smile, it was of him, Jenna, and David. Big smiles in front of the Christmas tree, Theo had left a comment on it as well. A simple smiley face. Liam made sure to leave a like on all of them, so his mother wouldn’t confront him about it later. 

Chelsea had uploaded a silly photo they had taken together, standing back to back with their fingers posed as guns with the caption “Chelly Bean and Li Bear reunited and ready to solve crimes!” He rolled his eyes but he liked it anyway. The next one was a normal photo of them, smiling ear to ear. Chelsea was more like a sister to him, and he a brother to her. They were their parents only children and Liam hated the fact that they had lost touch over the years.

* * *

 

**Theo**

“ _ **They’re nice, don’t sweat it.” – 10:15 PM**_

_“I didn’t know anyone posted anything. You have to meet Chelsea though, I think you’ll really like her.” – 10:23 PM_

_“She’s my cousin but more like a sister.” – 10:24 PM_

* * *

 

“Okay, who is this boy that’s liking all of the pics on facebook?” Chelsea asked as she set down next to Liam on his bed, popcorn and drinks in hand. They had plans to watch the Christmas specials since it had been a while since they had been together to do it. 

“Oh, it’s Theo.” Liam replied coyly.

“Ohhh, it’s Theooo.” Chelsea sung in a mocking manner.

“Oh my god.” Liam groaned. 

“Okay, okay. But I want details!” She replied. “Who is he? What’s he like? I need picture, Liam. Show me a pic! His facebook is private.”

“Just let me finish this text and I’ll tell you anything.” Liam replied, shaking his head.

“Your text to Theo?” Chelsea smirked.

Liam ignored her, returning to his phone for a few moments before either he or Theo fell asleep for the night. 

* * *

 

**Theo**

“ _Are you having a good time?” – 10:32 PM_

_“ **It has been okay. We had a small dinner tonight with my grandma. We still have people coming over tomorrow and the next. Next time you see me, I’ll be twenty pounds heavier.” –  10:35 PM**_

_“Yeah, I’m sure a body of your physique is going to deplete over the course of a few days.” – 10:36 PM_

**_“Is that your way of telling me I have a nice body? 😉” –  10:37 PM_ **

_“Oh, come on, you know it, I know it, we ALL know it.” – 10:38 PM_

_“ **Are you trying to seduce me?” –  10:40 PM**_

_“Since you’re not in town, I guess you’ll never know.” – 10:42 PM_

_“ **I’d probably let you. 😉” –  10:43 PM**_

* * *

 

Liam’s cheeks flushed red, had he really just sent that to Theo? Is this really what they're talking about now? Maybe he had had too much eggnog.

“I’m still waiting.” Chelsea said, stirring Liam from his thoughts.

“Okay, fine. His name is Theo and I met him at school when I moved back. Happy?”

“Wow, thanks for telling me absolutely nothing, at least show me a picture of him or something.” Chelsea said.

Liam decided to show her the one he sent that morning of him wearing the Santa’s hat and smiling.

“What a dork, I can see why you like him.” Chelsea laughed.

“Hey!” Liam dejected.

“Oh, come on, he’s gorgeous, Liam.” Chelsea smiled.

“Yeah, but he’s not exactly out yet… not to anyone but our friends and my mom and dad.”

“That’s gotta be tricky, huh?” She frowned.

“Yeah, his dad is really against it.” Liam replied, turning his attention to his laptop to set up for their streaming. A Christmas Story was what they had decided on. Liam always enjoyed watching this one, it used to be a tradition to see just how long everyone could stand to watch it before they got tired of it. Liam always ended up winning, because he never did.

“That’s a shame.” Chelsea frowned, “What’s he like? Is good guy?”

Liam smiled, “Yeah, he’s amazing. He makes me really happy.”

“You’ve got it bad.” Chelsea laughed.

“No, I don’t.” Liam mumbled.

“You do.” She replied, “But it’s good to see you so happy. When mom told me what happened to you, I wanted to come up to Tacoma myself and beat up everyone who messed with you.”

Liam smiled, “I appreciate it. I survived it though.”

“So, why didn’t Theo come tonight?” She asked.

“He went to his grandma’s.” Liam shrugged. “She couldn’t make it to town.”

“Oh, well that’s understandable.” She replied.

“Yeah,” He nodded. “But we won’t get to see each other until after New Years.” 

“That’s nice, I hope I can be around to meet him.” 

“I really think you two would like each other.”

Chelsea scoffed, “What’s not to like about me?”

Liam shook his head, “You really don’t want me to answer that.”

“Rude.” She laughed, “You know, I really missed you.”

“Do you think if our moms weren’t such good friends, we’d ever get to see each other?” Liam asked. He feared that it could be a touchy subject for them. One of their fathers was dead, while the other was just beat.

“You really think you could keep me away?” Chelsea smirked.

“I just mean, like with my dad never coming around and with yours…” He trailed off.

“We’re family, dude.” Chelsea replied, “We stick together.”

Liam thought about that for a moment, he knew his family wasn’t perfect, he figured that out pretty early in life. His father couldn’t remain faithful to his mother even when she was pregnant with Liam. After they spilt up, he left Liam behind. David had been their saving grace. David was more than a father to Liam in the first two weeks he had known him that his own father was in the six years of his life.

Liam found himself wondering if there was such a thing as a perfect family. Mason and his parents were probably it. His life with his mother and David was probably the second closest thing he would find if he went looking. Chelsea and his aunt Lacey did pretty well together. Even Brett’s family seemed okay.

Liam hated the fact that people like Theo or Corey or Nolan didn’t have a comfortable family life. Theo’s parents not agreeing with his lifestyle and him fearing they would hate him. Corey’s parents treated him as if he were invisible most of the time. Nolan didn’t talk about it much, but Liam knew his parents had wanted too much from him, pushing him to be someone he’s not while not caring if he was miserable.

Maybe that’s why Liam wasn’t against the idea of his mother being so involved with him and his friends when they were over. Jenna treated them with respect and they returned it. Corey was the most obvious about it, seemingly awkward over the fact that Jenna would even give him the slightest bit attention until Liam had talked to him about it in a way that didn’t make it obvious that Liam knew the reasons behind it. Nolan took to Jenna right away, Liam knew it was because he was so used trying to please people so much that he couldn’t stand the thought of Jenna not liking him, which was absurd.

Then there was Theo. Jenna accepted him with open arms and such an adoration that it almost made Liam’s head spin.

“I saw your dad last week.” Chelsea whispered.

Liam turned to look at her, raising a brow.

“He didn’t speak.” She shrugged, “I wrote it off as him not knowing who I was but that was only after I had yelled a ‘well fuck you too, buddy’ his way.”

“He’s a dick.” Liam replied, “Accepted that a long time ago.”

“Yeah, but that’s an insult to dicks everywhere.” Chelsea said, earning a hearty laugh out of Liam. 

“I can’t believe you just said that.” He said once he was able to catch his breath. 

“I’m only speaking the truth here.” She smiled, “Now, lets watch this movie before the popcorn grows stale.”

Liam nodded and they both got settled against the head of his bed to set up the laptop and popcorn in between them. It didn’t take long for Liam’s mind to begin to wonder off again. It had been a long time before he had thought about his dad and to have him be mention twice in one night? He couldn’t help but let his mind wonder about him.

In the end, he knew one thing was true. Aaron Dunbar was only good for one thing - helping to bring Liam into the world. Liam had grown to favor him over Jenna, something that he thought had to sting every time she looked at him. Liam could tell by the old photos (that he had hidden away) that their build was the same. Liam had gotten some features from his mother, the intense blue eyes, and the curl of his nose, and a fuller set of lips. When it came to personality or attitude, Liam wasn’t sure. He knew he was respectful towards his mother and admittedly, acted more like her with a little bit of David mixed in, of course. 

If Liam could be known for resembling two of the most understanding and loving people in the sense of being a good person, then he would never change a thing about himself. Not in that moment, not when he fully realized how lucky he was to have them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! More coming soon!


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